Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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239. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht further to Parliamentary Question No. 276 of 3 October 2018, the number of appeals that were actually submitted regarding SAC designation on owners' lands rather than the number of appeals heard by the board in each of the years 2013 to 2017 and to date in 2018; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47529/18]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The European Communities (Birds and Natural Habitats) Regulations 2011 provide that a landowner may appeal, on scientific grounds, against the inclusion of land with a special area of conservation, within three months from the date of notification of the proposed designation of the site.

There are 2 stages in the appeals process:

Stage 1: A Departmental review of the proposed inclusion of the land within the special area of conservation is conducted by the local office of the National Parks and Wildlife Service of my Department.

Stage 2: If an appeal is not successful at the Departmental review stage, the landowner may request that the appeal be heard formally by the Designated Areas Appeals Advisory Board. The Board is comprised of an independent chairperson and equal representation from a landowner/user/producer panel and from a conservation groups panel.

Details of the number of appeals against the inclusion of land within special area of conservation sites submitted to the Department from 2013 to 2018 (to date) are outlined in the following table.

There were no appeals against the inclusion of land within special area of conservation sites submitted to the Designated Areas Appeals Advisory Board during this period.