The EU Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats, and of Wild Flora and Fauna (92/43/EEC), commonly known as “the Habitats Directive” requires Member States to select sites, for the protection of habitats and species that are considered threatened in the EU territory and listed on the Annexes to the Directive. Sites selected to protect habitats and species listed in the Habitats Directive are known as Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and form part of the Natura 2000 network of protected sites across Europe.
Under the Birds Directive (2009/147/EC), Member States are required to protect habitats and species through, inter alia, the classification of Special Protection Areas (SPAs) for threatened bird species and migratory birds.
The Birds Directive and the Habitats Directive are transposed into Irish law by way of, inter alia, the Wildlife Act 1976, the European Communities (Birds and Natural Habitats) Regulations 2011, and several hundred Statutory Instruments which designate sites as SPAs and SACs.
Where the Commission perceives that any member state has failed in its obligations under the Directives they may take appropriate enforcement or infringement actions.
In the 2023 Court of Justice of the European Union Case 444/21, (“the Measures Case”), Ireland was found to have breached its obligations under the Habitats Directive in relation to 423 protected European sites. Significant progress has been made, including the formal designation of 418 out of 423 SACs and the publication of Site-specific conservation objectives for all sites. Ireland continues to collate, transmit and publish relevant conservation measures information for all 423 SAC sites, in accordance with the timeframe agreed with the European Commission.
In December 2024, the Commission closed the “Birds Case” (Case C-418/04) which concerned Ireland’s insufficient transposition of the Birds Directive, and an insufficiency in the terrestrial sites designated as SPAs, amongst other things. Updates are required to the Commission on a six-monthly basis in regard to progress on certain outstanding matters, following the closure.
In March 2025 the Court of Justice of the European Union notified Ireland that the European Commission had submitted an application to initiate proceedings before the Court in Case (CJEU) C-196/25 ("The Peatlands Case") alleging failures by Ireland to fulfil its obligations under Articles 6(2), 6(3), and 6(4) of Council Directive 92/43/EEC (the Habitats Directive), with regard to peat extraction in special areas of conservation designated for the protection of raised bog and blanket bog habitats. Ireland lodged its defence to this case in 2025. Judgment has not yet issued but is expected later this year.
On 29 April 2026, Ireland received a Letter of Formal Notice from the Commission concerning an alleged insufficiency in the lists of sites notified to the Commission as SACs under the Habitats Directive and as SPAs under the Birds Directive, in the marine environment. Ireland has two months to submit its response to the Letter to the Commission.
As some of these are active legal proceedings, I cannot comment further beyond stating that Ireland strongly defends the significant progress made in these cases to date.
The prevention, investigation and enforcement of non-compliance with wildlife legislation, including the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, is one of the functions of the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS). A dedicated NPWS Directorate for Wildlife Enforcement and Nature Protection is leading on the development of NPWS policies and strategies for wildlife crime.
Reports of alleged breaches of legislation received by the NPWS are assessed and, where appropriate, investigated by NPWS officers or referred to the appropriate authority. Where necessary, NPWS may be supported by other State bodies or agencies, such as An Garda Síochána, in the course of its investigations.
