Ireland has been referred to the European Court of Justice by the European Commission, over its failure to designate Special Areas of Conservation (SACs).

A total of 423 sites in Ireland were supposed to be designated as SACs by December 2014, in line with the EU’s Habitats Directive. However, the Department of Culture, Heritage and Gaeltacht here failed to designate 154 of these sites.

The Commission also said that site-specific conservation objectives have not been established for 87 sites

The Department has not confirmed where the sites were, but the Commission has said they are in the Atlantic biogeographical region – along the western seaboard.

A European Commission spokesperson told the Irish Farmers Journal that “the details of the grievances cannot be revealed as this is part of the ongoing proceedings”.

The Commission also said that site-specific conservation objectives have not been established for 87 sites and the necessary conservation measures have not been established at any of the 423 sites.

Defence

The Department will prepare its defence for the case, a spokesperson for the new Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, said.

Minister of State with responsibility for heritage, Malcolm Noonan, told the Irish Farmers Journal that “notwithstanding this long-standing infringement case, I intend to make substantial progress on protection of our habitats”.

Currently, there are 1,694,743ha of SAC, 53% of which is land, in Ireland

He said he will be “continuing apace with the process of formal designations, development of conservation objectives and management plans for our protected areas”.

Currently, there are 1,694,743ha of SAC, 53% of which is land, in Ireland.

It is estimated that there are 35,000 farmers who have designated land. There are three types of designated land: special area of conservation (SAC); special protected area (SPA); or natural heritage area (NHA).