Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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609. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the general system of protection in place here for breeding birds as is required under article 5 of the birds directive. [46786/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the conservation of wild birds, commonly referred to as the Birds Directive, has created a comprehensive scheme of protection for wild bird species in the European Union. The Directive recognises that wild birds, many of which are migratory, are a shared heritage of the Member States and that their effective conservation requires international co-operation.

Article 4 of the Directive requires Member States to classify areas as special protection areas for:

- the conservation of rare or vulnerable species listed in Annex I of the Directive; and

- regularly-occurring migratory species not listed in Annex I.

In Ireland, 154 sites have been selected for conservation as special protection areas, pursuant to the requirements of the Directive. Within these sites, certain activities may only be undertaken with my prior consent, as Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, or with the consent of the relevant public authority.

Article 5 of the Birds Directive requires that Member States take measures to protect all species of naturally occurring birds in the wild state, as referred to in Article 1 of the Directive.  Under Article 5, certain activities are prohibited such as the deliberate killing or capture of wild birds and the deliberate destruction of or damage to their nests and eggs or removal of their nests, except in certain specific circumstances.

Article 5 has been transposed into national law under various provisions of the Wildlife Acts, under which it is prohibited to undertake the activities listed in this article of the Directive, unless under licence from my Department.