Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Boyhan for raising this very important matter of the protection of our European sites and the nature directives. Obviously, his issue is specifically around Killarney National Park and the Burren National Park, which have enjoyed the full protection afforded to special areas of conservation for several decades.

From the date of public notification, sites proposed for designation as special areas of conservation enjoy comprehensive protection under the birds and natural habitats regulations 2011 and Wildlife Act 1967, as amended. Ministerial directions further protect these sites by way of restricting certain activities, that is, notifiable actions and activities requiring consent. These are activities that require the permission of the Minister before they can be carried out within or close to the sites. We very much wish to protect these sites. That is an absolute and firm Government and Department policy.

The EU habitats directive, transposed in Ireland via the European communities (birds and natural habitats) regulations 2011, requires Ireland to designate special areas of conservation for the protection of threatened and endangered habitats and species. In all, since 1997, 441 sites in Ireland have been proposed for designation as special areas of conservation and have been publicly notified as such. These sites are protected under Irish law from the time they are publicly notified in accordance with the provisions of the European communities (birds and natural habitats) regulations 2011, and there are ministerial directions in force in respect of every one of the sites in question. Therefore, Killarney National Park and the Burren National Park enjoy and have enjoyed the full protection afforded to all Natura 2000 sites for many years.

The final step in the formal process to conclude the designation of these sites is the making of a statutory instrument. To date, as the Senator has identified, 401 sites have statutory instruments in place.I am informed that the remainder of the more than 40 sites will all have statutory instruments in place before the end of this year. Killarney, for example, will have one in place in the coming weeks. Historically, the boundaries of SACs were mapped using Irish Grid, IG, co-ordinates on reduced scale six-inch maps. In recent years, much more accurate, digital mapping technology has become available, which overcomes many of the shortcomings of the old mapping system, including non-compatibility with GPS and legacy distortion issues. Accordingly, as part of the finalisation of the statutory instrument for a special area of conservation, the National Parks and Wildlife Service has taken the opportunity to transfer the boundary mapping for SACs to the Ordnance Survey Ireland-developed Irish transverse mercator, ITM, co-ordinate system. It is a GPS compatible mapping system that takes advantage of the accuracy of GPS while minimising mapping distortions. The new mapping technology also eliminates legacy issues whereby the six-inch map series, which was developed in the 19th and early 20th centuries, in many instances did not reflect the features on the ground when sites were surveyed and selected.

This new mapping system, in conjunction with the recently developed 1:5,000 maps therefore provides a much more accurate co-ordinate-reference system that is compatible with modern surveying instruments such as GPS and provides a standard framework for relating geographic information.

The site referred to by the Senator, the Killarney National Park, Macgillycuddy's Reeks and Caragh River catchment special area of conservation site, code 365, was first publicly notified and advertised in March 1997 and adopted by the European Commission as a site of community importance, SCI, in 2004, becoming a European site within the meaning of Irish law. The site has enjoyed the full protection afforded to an SAC for almost 20 years. Any suggestion to the contrary is misconstrued.

Moving to the Burren, this is a region that covers a very large land area, with multiple sites designated covering approximately 35,000 ha. All of these sites were publicly notified and advertised in March 1997 and adopted by the Commission in 2004. Statutory instruments have been published in respect of these sites. The remaining sites in the Burren area, the East Burren Complex cSAC and the Termon Lough cSAC have been protected since March 1997 and are on course to have a statutory instrument published in the coming weeks.

In relation to the legal case mentioned by Senator Boyhan, which is currently before the Court of Justice of the EU, a judgment has not yet issued. We expect that will happen some time in the summer. Accordingly, I do not propose to comment on the case in detail at this time.