Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Question 572: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will assure the Houses of the Oireachtas that the freshwater pearl mussel is protected to the same degree in all the rivers in which it occurs, regardless of whether these locations are within or outside of a designated special area of conservation. [32658/06]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Freshwater Pearl Mussel is protected under the Wildlife Acts and under the European Communities (Natural Habitats) Regulations 1997-2005.

The protection afforded to the freshwater pearl mussel under the Habitats Regulations is that appropriate to an Annex II species as listed in Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild flora and fauna ("the Habitats Directive"): this involves Regulation 3 of the Habitats Regulations, the selection of areas for designation as Special Areas of Conservation (SACs).

This process does not require that every location for the species should be designated as an SAC. Article 3.2 of the Habitats Directive clearly indicates that the creation of designated sites shall be proportionate to the representation in the national territory of the Annex II species. Both the Directive and the Regulations (Article 4.1 and Regulation 3(2) (b) respectively) provide that, in regard to aquatic species which range over wide areas, such sites shall be proposed only where there is a clearly identifiable area representing the physical and biological factors essential to their life and reproduction.

In line with this approach, SACs have been designated in Ireland for the freshwater pearl mussel where the best populations occur and where there are the best prospects for meeting the species' requirements. Detailed requirements in relation to notification and environmental assessment of proposed developments or other activities apply in relation to SACs.

More general protection of the freshwater pearl mussel in all areas is provided by the Wildlife (Protection of Wild Animals) Regulations 1990, made under the Wildlife Act 1976. These provisions prohibit the capture, or wilful destruction of the breeding places, of fauna generally.