Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Independent)
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240. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her views on a request by a company (details supplied) to operate its business in Wicklow National Park; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26730/15]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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To the greatest extent possible, my Department encourages and facilitates visitor access to and appropriate use of our National Parks and Nature Reserves. Such access and use must, however, be consistent with the ethos of these internationally significant natural heritage properties as places of peace and tranquillity set in scenic landscapes, as well as being compatible with the conservation and biodiversity considerations that underpin their management.

Wicklow Mountains National Park, which comprises over 20,000 hectares of our natural heritage, is managed in accordance with international criteria set down by the World Conservation Union. The Park is included in the United Nations List of National Parks and Equivalent Reserves and carries a number of important conservation designations.

I understand that a person recently approached a staff member at the Park in connection with the proposal raised by the Deputy and was advised to formally submit a proposal to my Department. That submission is awaited. As the Deputy will appreciate, my Department frequently receives proposals for the development of recreational and business enterprises in the Park, each of which must be considered in the context of my Department’s obligations to manage and care for this natural heritage property in an appropriate fashion, having particular regard to underlying conservation imperatives.