Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach's office for choosing this Commencement matter this morning. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Burke, to the Chamber. The Connemara Bog Complex is a very large site of approximately 50,000 ha. It covers the majority of the south Connemara lowlands in County Galway. The site is bounded to the north by the Galway-Clifden road, the N59, and to the south, it stretches as far as the Moycullen-Spiddal road. This is a huge area of land that is protected within the Connemara region. It is predominantly lowland Atlantic blanket bog, with some small areas of old oak woodland with some invasive rhododendrons and, of course, some of the finest rivers are in the area. That is very important as the Atlantic salmon, a species listed under Annex II of the EU Habitats Directive, is found in some of the rivers within this site.

There is a long-running history of the selection of this area as a candidate for a special area of conservation, SAC, going back as far as 1997 when there was a first notification of the site. It was subsequently extended and renotified in 2006. I understand there has been an appeals process and that appeals have been lodged and processed since then. The Department is engaging in the final signing off of the SAC.

I am inquiring in regard to clarification on the appeals. Will there be any future opportunities in regard to appeals? I am not talking about large-scale changes. In some cases, there may be a request for some minor changes to the boundaries of the SAC in the future. It could be to rectify some issues where there may be mistakes on the mapping, for example, or there could be areas which are commercially sensitive to somebody and it may make sense to make a slight change in the boundary and that could be compensated elsewhere with the inclusion of another area.

I am inquiring as to whether the boundaries will be the boundaries forever or whether there could be changes to an SAC in the future. As I said, it is a huge tract of land, some 50,000 ha. I appreciate it is hugely important in terms of biodiversity and our requirements under the Habitats Directive and it is something with which we have to comply. There has been a great deal of discussion, engagement and talk since this was first notified as far back as 1997. We have come a long way in terms of acceptance that SACs are here and are required under European law.There has to be a process and a boundary created to define that special area of conservation. However, as I said, can there be minor, but perhaps important, changes in the future which would benefit society, the economy and local communities, whether it is a requirement to remove a small piece to allow for a piece of amenity or commercial infrastructure? Clarification on the processes into the future is important.