26th September 2018, hearing to hear the Appeal of [redacted] against the inclusion of lands in Lough Corrib SAC (Site Code: 000297)
Members of Board redacted apart from the following:
Maryellen Sacco Power, Secretary
Rebecca Teasdale, Conservation Ranger, NPWS
“Board is advisory in capacity and makes a recommendation to the Minister on an ecological and scientific basis and that they are unable to consider planning permission or monetary value”
“The Secretary pointed out that the Board have no say in planning permission and clarified that the recommendation would remain the same”
Appointment of Chairperson – Designated Areas Appeals Advisory Board (DAAAB) for SACs and NHAs
Date Released: Tuesday, July 4, 2017
Heather Humphreys, T.D. Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs has appointed Mr. Denis Daly as Chairperson for the Designated Areas Appeals Advisory Board (DAAAB) for SACs and NHAs following an assessment of applications received for the recently advertised position.
The DAAAB makes recommendations to the Minister in cases where landowners/users object to the inclusion of their land in Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) or Natural Heritage Areas (NHAs). It is independent of the Department and reports directly to the Minister. The DAAAB was previously Chaired by Mr. Sean Duignan who retired from the position.
Mr. Daly was selected from a list of applicants assessed using the following criteria: candidate’s background, communication skills, experience as a Chairperson, availability and any conflicts of interest that might arise.
From Kiskeam in North Cork, Denis Daly is a practising barrister.
DAAAB Board
The Designated Areas Appeals Advisory Board (DAAAB) is comprised of:- A Chairperson: Mr Denis Daly for appeals against Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and Natural Heritage Areas (NHAs) or Ms Ciana Campbell for appeals against Special Protection Areas (SPAs) – and a representative balance of the competing interests involved which are as follows :- Two people will participate from each of the following panels;
Landowners/Users Panel: as represented by the Irish Farmers Association, the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association and the Irish Business and Employers Confederation
Conservation Organisations Panel: Nominated by the Environmental Pillar, drawn from organisations participating in the Pillar. Frequent representatives are from organisations such as BirdWatch Ireland, Coastwatch Ireland and the Irish Peatland Conservation Council.
A quorum consists of the Chairperson and two Advisory Board nominees, one member should be from each of the aforementioned Panels. The actual Board members who will be present at a specific appeal would be confirmed when the details and nature of the appeal(s) are known and the hearing is being scheduled. Considerations would be given to the type of land under appeal, availability of individual Board members, the appellants, their ecologists and the number of appeals being heard at each meeting.
The only permanent members of the DAAAB are the chairpersons.
The landowners/users panel has been represented by the IFA and ICMSA for a number of years, the persons representing can change depending on availability and their organisations nomination. The most recent nominations were Pat Dunne, Eamonn Nee and Tom Turley from IFA and Denis Drennan, Patrick Rohan and John O’Donnell from the ICMSA.
The Conservation panel of the board is nominated by the IEN depending on the appeal being considered. The IEN have nominated people from Birdwatch Ireland, the Irish Peatland Conservation Council and Coastwatch Ireland within the last few years.
Regular nominations by the Environmental Pillar have been Ralph Sheppard and John Cromie from Birdwatch Ireland, Karin Dubsky from Coastwatch and Tristram Whyte from the Irish Peatland Conservation Council.
None of these people are full members of the Board and attendance would be based on availability, the area under appeal and nomination by the Environmental Pillar.
Fintan Kelly, Alex Copeland, Ralph Sheppard, Karin Dubsky, Tristram Whyte and John Cromie have all been nominated by the IEN in the years 2017 to date.
Notes
Eamonn Nee, Galway IFA Hill Farming Chairman
Pat Dunne, IFA Hill Committee Chairman
Tom Turley, IFA Connacht regional chair
Denis Drennan, ICMSA Deputy President
Patrick Rohan, ICMSA’s Farm and Rural Affairs Committee, non-executive director of Kerry Group
Karin Dubsky, marine ecologist, co-founder of Coastwatch Europe,
Access to information held by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage relating to: all correspondence (including with operators, the EPA or Westmeath Co. Co.), inspector reports, including any photos/videos, maps, interview transcripts and other materials related to peat extraction within or adjacent to Milltownpass Bog Natural Heritage Area in the period 2021 to 2023
Under the AIE Regs to request a list of the sites noted in the following EU case C-444/21
1) 217 sites
2) 140 sites
For each site, please include name and location of the site
By its first two complaints, the Commission asks the Court to declare that Ireland has infringed Article 4(4) of the Habitats Directive, first, by failing to designate a number of sites on its territory as SACs (217 out of the 423 SCIs), and, second, by failing to set site-specific detailed conservation objectives for certain sites (140 out of the 423 SCIs).
OPINION OF ADVOCATE GENERAL ĆAPETA delivered on 9 February 2023 Case C‑444/21 European Commission v Ireland
Tender for a desk study to update GIS data, and a number of related tasks, on the scale and impact levels of peat-cutting in blanket bog SACs designated to protect blanket bog and associated habitats, in Ireland.
This work will inform regulatory system for peat extraction on blanket bogs in such sites.
1.2 Background and Summary of Requirements Increased knowledge on the rate of loss and damage to rare and threatened habitats and species is reflected in legislation to protect these natural resources in particular the EU Habitats, Birds and EIA Directives and the Wildlife Acts (1976) and Amendments (2000).
One of these habitats is blanket bog which, according to the survey of Hammond (1979), once covered an estimated 773,860 ha in Ireland and despite, large scale losses, is still our most extensive peatland habitat. Ireland also has particular responsibility for blanket bog as it holds (along with Scotland, Norway and NW Spain) a significant proportion of the global resource and the largest remaining resource of, Atlantic blanket bog, a hyper-oceanic bog type.
Ireland is also now the only EU country with lowland blanket bog habitat. Under the EU Habitats Directive 55 Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) have been designated as SAC for the protection of blanket bog.
The work entails provision of an update (based on interpretation of recent aerial imagery) of GIS data and site summary reports of 2015 review of blanket bog SACs (Table 1 in RFT) and to apply original review method and update to 5 additional blanket bog SACs (Table 2) and to analyse trends in peat-cutting.
A critical review of draft turbary management zoning and overview reports (from earlier review of 10 SACs (Table 4 in RFT) is also required to consider improvements if needed in approach to inform how draft provisional /indicative management zoning should be applied (and to apply this) to remaining SACs (and if needed to update same for those 10 SACs) using imagery review results with key biodiversity data.
Year 3 of the scientific work to inform a system for the management of turf-cutting in designated blanket bog SACs and NHAs:Applying Provisional Management Zones VOLUME 1 – SECOND DRAFT (Version 02a)
Simon J. Barron, Botanical, Environmental and Conservation Consultants Ltd., (BEC Consultants)
February 2018. Prepared for the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
Under the AIE Regs to request any records in relation to NPWS enforcement actions / inspections / inspectors site notes / related correspondence for water abstraction within SACs for potato farming / processing in Kilkenny
For the purposes of this AIE please consider the years 2020 to 2023