Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose these amendments in response to amendments proposed on Committee Stage by Senators Higgins, Ruane and Kelleher. The amendments provide that when the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht publishes a notice of his or her intention to make an order designating land as a natural heritage area or when the Minister dedesignates all or part of a site as a natural heritage area by making an order to amend or revoke a natural heritage area order, the Minister will, to inform the general public of the notice or of the making of the order: place an advertisement in a national newspaper; and publish it on the Internet. The Minister will also cause a copy of the notice or a copy of the order to be sent to the Oireachtas committee whose remit encompasses the natural heritage.

The Bill already provides that an advertisement of the notice of the Minister’s intention to make a natural heritage area order or of the making of a natural heritage area order will be placed in a local newspaper and copies of the notice or order will be sent to various Ministers, public bodies and defined owners or occupiers of land.

The proposed amendments will facilitate widespread dissemination of a notice of the Minister’s intention to make an order designating land as a natural heritage area and of the making of an order to amend or revoke a natural heritage area order in order to dedesignate all or part of a site as a natural heritage area.