Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 500: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of landowners that are affected by special areas of conservation together with the number of landowners that have received maps from his Department on which the areas in question are marked; the scale of such maps; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36730/05]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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My Department's estimate of the number of landowners within candidate special areas of conservation, SACs, is of the order of 25,000.

The Department has written to people living within or in the vicinity of 420 sites to inform them of the designation proposals. The information enclosed as part of this notification process included a map delineating the SAC boundary. SAC maps are published at a scale of 1:15,000 by my Department and are referenced by Ordnance Survey Ireland mapping, 1:10,560, series. As part of the information campaign, landowners were invited to revert to my Department via freepost if they required more detailed information or clarification. My Department also operates a dedicated free-phone service, 1800-40-5000, to assist with requests for information packs or with any queries on the designation process.

In addition, in order to facilitate a wider dissemination of information on the designation of SACs, maps were also distributed to the offices of various public bodies and agencies. These included county council offices, local offices of the Department of Social and Family Affairs, Teagasc and the farm development service of the Department of Agriculture and Food and Garda stations. Notices with regard to designation proposals are also published in the local press and broadcast on local radio.