Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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580. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht his views on the potential impact on the European designated special protection area following the sale of five acres on the Merrion Road beside the Booterstown Nature Reserve in Dublin, known as the Ashe Castle site previously owned by the National Asset Management Agency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14124/14]

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
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The land in question lies outside, but is adjacent to, the South Dublin Bay and River Tolka Estuary Special Protection Area (SPA), of which Booterstown Nature Reserve is a part, and the South Dublin Bay Special Area of Conservation (SAC). These areas are protected under EU and Irish law. Any proposed development of the site is likely to require planning permission. Under Part XAB of the Planning and Development Acts, any proposed development will be subject to the requirements of Article 6(3) and (4) of the Habitats Directive. These provide for the protection of SPAs and SACs, which are referred to as European Sites in the transposing legislation. They are designed to determine, on the basis of a scientific assessment and objective criteria, whether a project, alone and in combination with other plans or projects, is likely to have an adverse impact on the integrity of a European site. A competent authority, such as a planning authority, can agree to a plan or project only after having ascertained that it will not adversely affect the integrity of any European Site that might be affected by it, unless the plan or project can be allowed to proceed for imperative reasons of overriding public interest.