Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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213. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his plans to extend the boundaries of national parks; if such a process can be imitated by local authorities or other bodies; the method or legislation needed to be amended to extend current boundaries; if mineral exploration licences can be issued for areas covered by national parks; the environmental protections that are specific to national parks areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22278/22]

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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Through the National Parks and Wildlife Service, my Department manages an extensive network of natural heritage sites of some 87,000 hectares. The six National Parks of Ireland account for circa 65,000 hectares of this network. I am ever mindful of the need to focus on the core responsibilities relating to the management of our National Parks which are managed from a conservation perspective and attract in excess of 4 million visitors annually. While my Department has no specific plans to expand the park network at present we are actively ensuring the preservation, protection and presentation of the assets we already own. 

With regard to statutory protection of National Parks, the principal national legislation, providing for the protection of wildlife and the control of some activities that may adversely affect wildlife, is the Wildlife Act 1976, and the Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2000.  Conservation of biodiversity within our National Parks network has been strengthened and expanding by EU law, most notably, EU Directives 92/43/EEC 1992 (Habitats Directive), 2009/147/EC (Birds Directive), 2011/92/EU (EIA Directive) and 2001/43/EC (SEA Directive).  The State Property Act 1954 and the National Monuments Act 1930 make provisions for the vesting and management of state owned property and the protection and preservation of national monuments respectively. It is the policy of my Department to abide by the criteria and standards for the National Parks laid down by the IUCN, which can be found at www.iucn.org/theme/protected-areas/about/protected-areas-categories/category-ii-national-park. 

Regarding mineral exploration in Ireland, the matter is regulated by the Exploration and Mining Division of the Department of Communications, Climate Action and the Environment.