Gay Mitchell (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 169: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his views on Ireland's poor performance in terms of wilderness protection, regional ozone, ecoregion protection and in the Environment Performance Index 2006; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5250/06]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I was pleased to note that Ireland is ranked at tenth place overall in the Pilot 2006 Environmental Index which is published by the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy at Yale University. This reflects the generally high quality of our environment and the effectiveness of public and private sector actions on the environment. The index employs 16 indicators and, as with any index with multiple indicators, it is to be expected that the performance of individual countries will vary when assessed under the different indicators. While Ireland has performed well under certain indicators, our performance has been less strong in those mentioned in the question.

Nonetheless, as regards the indicators measuring wilderness protection and eco-region protection, the relevance and value of these indicators for countries such as Ireland — and other developed European countries — is not entirely clear. Our biodiversity rich habitats are semi-natural, reflecting thousands of years of moulding and management by human activity, and we have no true wilderness of the kind found in many less developed countries.

I am satisfied that our performance in protecting these habitats is good. The most important category in this regard is that of special areas of conservation, SACs, under the habitats directive. We are now conserving 420 SACs, covering some 11% of our land area; this is close to the European Union average. Furthermore, I am advised that some of the data for these indicators appear to date from around 2000. This would not adequately reflect significant new areas designated since that time under the habitats directive, and recent further progress in this regard.

It appears that the indicator relating to regional ozone relates to the protection of ecosystems from ozone. The Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, report, Ambient Air Quality in Ireland 2004, makes the point that the average concentrations of ozone in Ireland are well below the threshold for effects on human health. Moreover, the EPA report also states that levels are well below the thresholds for effects of ozone pollution on ecosystems.