Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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285. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if members of the National Parks and Wildlife Service conducted a night-time visit to Inis Bó Finne Island on certain dates (details supplied) to record corncrake data; if personnel from the National Parks and Wildlife Service entered private land during the course of this trip; if this visit was sanctioned by the National Parks and Wildlife Service; if she will provide a list of further scheduled visits to Inis Bó Finne by the National Parks and Wildlife Service for the purposes of corncrake survey recordings; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38632/14]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Staff of my Department visited Inis Bó Finne on 3 occasions during June 2014, and accessed lands on the island on those visits. The corncrake is an endangered species in Ireland and listed on Annex 1 of the EU Birds Directive. Monitoring of this species is required under that Directive. All survey work was carried out in accordance with the provisions of the European Communities (Birds and Natural Habitats) Regulations, 2011, which provide powers to authorised staff of my Department to enter onto land to carry out their functions.

No further surveys are scheduled in relation to Corncrake on Inishbofin in 2014 but survey work will continue to be necessary in future years.