Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 457: To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the criteria used in the designation of 53 Irish bogs as Special Areas of Conservation; if State owned or commercially owned bogs would meet these criteria; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26541/12]

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
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Under the EU Habitats Directive, each Member State is required to designate Special Areas of Conservation for the protection of endangered habitats and species as listed in the Directive. As part of Ireland's obligations under the Directive, 53 Special Areas of Conservation were nominated for designation between 1997 and 2002 for the protection of Active Raised Bog, Degraded Raised Bog still capable of natural regeneration and Bog Woodland. Each of these habitats is listed in Annex I of the Directive.

The choice of sites for selection as SACs arose from an extensive survey of the habitats in Ireland and the application of the scientific criteria specified in Annex III of the Directive. In short, the criteria used included:

· The degree of representivity of the natural habitat type on the site.

· The area of the site covered by the natural habitat type in relation to the total area covered by that natural habitat type within national territory.

· The degree of conservation of the structure and functions of the natural habitat type concerned and restoration possibilities.

· A global assessment of the value of the site for conservation of the natural habitat type concerned.

The reasoning behind the nomination for designation of each individual site is contained in the Natura 2000 standard data form, which can be viewed on my Department's website at www.npws.ie . The ownership of these bogs was not a central consideration in their selection and the 53 sites comprised both State-owned and privately-owned lands. I am advised that most State-owned or privately-owned raised bogs outside of the areas selected for designation do not meet the criteria for selection as SACs. In most cases, the living surface of the bog has been removed. In a few cases, the bog surface has not been removed but the areas were extensively drained, resulting in the loss of the most sensitive species.