Special Areas of Conservation
Seanad Éireann — 2022-07-05
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Aisling Dolan (FG), Nominated by the Taoiseach

From what I understand, then, the GSI is stating Lough Funshinagh is still a turlough. Is that correct? From what I understand and from what the Minister of State has told me, he is stating that the last time Lough Funshinagh was cleared was in 2016, whereas Roscommon County Council has stated the last time it was fully drained was in 1996. In other words, Lough Funshinagh is not operating as turloughs normally would.
The Minister of State has stated that every six years an update is provided to the European Union, on the conservation objectives. When was the last update given to the European Union? All the sites in Ireland, from what I understand, are assessed as inadequate and stable. Does that mean they will continue as inadequate? As for the conservation objectives, I know that within the NPWS there has been funding for a conservation implementation section, which will look at the conservation measures.
We need to know what the plan ahead is. Conservation measures need to be put in place or else we will lose the habitat that we want to protect in Lough Funshinagh. We cannot proceed unless we know, from the NPWS, the measures that will be put in place to protect the habitat, vegetation and all other qualifying criteria under the EU habitats directive annex I designation.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2022-07-05/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-21T01:01:02+00:00
Sitting date: 2022-07-05