Ireland rejects EU allegations of failure to protect marine habitats
The Government is to “vigorously defend” its record on protecting sea life after the European Commission threatened legal action over alleged conservation failures. The commission is accusing the State of long-running noncompliance with the habitats directive and the birds directive.It is one of two threats of legal action issued this week in formal notices of infringement proceedings that give Ireland two months to respond. The commission says Ireland is letting producers of single-use plastics off the hook by failing to ensure they pay the cost of public clean-ups and awareness campaigns. READ MOREUAE says Iran cannot be trusted over Hormuz strait; Trump threatens to withdraw troops from Spain and ItalyInside the Kinahan cartel’s secret messages: ‘Nobody is stopping until they’re all dead’ Property developer jailed for ‘truly shocking’ assaults on three teenage boysRathwood: The unravelling of one of the most complained about companies in IrelandIt also says Irish law lacks specific measures for achieving a quantifiable reduction in single-use plastics, and for creating a separate collection system for those items that are recyclable. In the case of the marine protections, the commission says Ireland was required to identify and designate sites of community importance (SCIs) and special protection areas (SPAs) to protect marine life and seabirds by 2012. It said a follow-up investigation in 2015 showed this had not happened. “While Ireland has undertaken significant monitoring of its marine waters, the Irish authorities have not yet formally proposed new marine SCIs and have not yet classified marine SPAs in coastal and offshore areas,” it said. “The failure to propose such sites, so many years after the deadline has passed, obstructs the rapid roll-out of renewable energy projects as it creates legal uncertainty for authorities and developers.” [ Coillte, Bord na Móna lands to be handed over under new effort to tackle ‘abysmal’ state of nature in IrelandOpens in new window ]Oonagh Duggan, head of policy at BirdWatch Ireland, urged the Government to act on the warning as soon as possible. BirdWatch Ireland published data on 24 locations critical to seabirds last year and Duggan said the information could be used by the Government to formally designate them as SPAs. “The maps are there. The data is there. Now is the time to designate them,” she said. Donal Griffin, co-ordinator with Fair Seas, which campaigns for the creation of much wider marine protected areas, said the commission’s action should be a “wake-up call for the Government”. However, the Department of Housing, which is responsible for conservation designations, rejected the allegations. “Ireland has to date notified to the European Commission of two very large marine SPAs: Seas off Wexford SPA, North West Irish Sea SPA, and extensions to the Bull and the Cow Rock SPA and the Murrough SPA,” it said. “Ireland has also notified two very large special areas of conservation for reef: the Southern Canyons and Porcupine Shelf SACs.” [ ‘It’s like Jurassic Park isn’t it?’: The Dodder wildlife photographers and the rare images they captureOpens in new window ]The department said it would make no further comment “beyond stating that we will defend our huge progress in this area vigorously”. The Department of the Environment, responsible for managing single-use plastics, said: “Ireland has and will continue to engage constructively with the European Commission on all infringement matters and works closely with relevant authorities to ensure compliance with EU obligations.”
