Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if funding is available for a landowner of a quarry which is in a special area of conservation to carry out an appropriate assessment. [50052/12]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Under the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, an appropriate assessment is required to be carried out by a planning authority or An Bord Pleanála, as the case may be, in an application for permission or substitute consent, in a case where it cannot be excluded, on the basis of objective information, that the development, individually or in combination with other plans or projects, will have a significant effect on a European site. In a case where the consent authority is required to carry out an appropriate assessment, the applicant for consent may be required to submit a Natura Impact Statement. This is a statement, for the purposes of Article 6 of the Habitats Directive, of the implications of a proposed development, on its own or in combination with other plans or projects, for one or more than one European site, in view of the conservation objectives of the site or sites.

There are no funds available to assist in the provision of Natura Impact Statements: this cost is a matter for the applicant for consent.