Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 September 2025
265. Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to list all sites currently being assessed as sites of community importance under Article 4 of the Habitats Directive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49318/25]
View answer266. Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to list the sites of community importance that are likely to transition into special areas of conservation in the next two years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49319/25]
View answer267. Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if new terrestrial and marine sites continue to be assessed as sites of community importance, or if the focus is solely on progressing current SCIs to SAC status; the rationale behind same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49320/25]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 265, 266 and 267 together.
Under the European Union’s Habitats Directive, transposed into Irish law by the European Communities (Birds and Natural Habitats) Regulations 2011 (S.I. No. 477/2011), Ireland is required to designate Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) for the protection of endangered habitats and species as listed in the Directive. These sites are notified to the European Commission who adopt them as Sites of Community Importance. Together with Special Protected Areas (SPAs) for Birds, these form the network of Natura 2000 sites. There are more than six hundred such sites in Ireland.
In terms of planned designations, scientific staff within the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) identify and evaluate candidate sites before designation. Most recently, two large off shore marine sites - Porcupine Shelf cSAC 2267 and the Southern Canyons cSAC 2278 – added more than three million hectares to the network of Special Areas of Conservation, and raised the percentage nationally of our reef habitat that is protected within Natura 2000 from 10% to 24%. These two sites are currently candidate SACs, and subject to the completion of the statutory appeals process, will proceed to full SAC and SCI status in due course. The North West Irish Sea candidate SPA and the Seas off Wexford candidate SPA cover a combined area of more than 530,000 hectares and now protect more than 20 of our rarest and most threatened bird species. Similarly, these two candidate Special Protection Areas are working through the statutory process and subject to the outcome of that process will proceed to full SPA status.
Detailed information about all of the Natura 2000 sites in Ireland, including their locations, areas, and conservation interests may be found at the following link: www.npws.ie/protected-sites
