Ireland must care for at-risk species, rules EU

UP to 30 whale species, a string of bats, the Kerry slug, otters and the natterjack toad should have a better chance of survival after the European Court of Justice ruled Ireland must take better care of them in future.

Ireland is a very important breeding and living area for many of these species, some of which are unique to the country but are under pressure from development.

But they were not properly protected under old legislation and newer laws were not properly implemented, putting them at risk, the court has ruled.

The Government has two months to convince the EU that this has changed and that there are proper rules and systems in place to ensure their survival.

If they fail to do so, the state risks a multi-million euro fine and a sum to be paid daily until they abide by the legislation the Government signed up too over 10 years ago.

The comprehensive ruling from the court sets a new benchmark for member states when it comes to providing protection for nature, a commission expert said.

While Ireland adopted new legislation in 1997, the Department of the Environment continued to use the old act, which was full of loopholes and narrowed down protection of species to almost nothing, the court was told.

This was exposed during planning for the Ennis bypass, since Co Clare is the most important site in Europe for the Lesser Horseshoe Bat especially. Under EU rules if any development is to interfere with the breeding and resting areas of such species a licence must be issued that oversees their safe transfer to a suitable location.

Similar problems for whales came to light during planning for the Corrib gas pipeline.

Irish waters are important for up to 30 species of whales but the Department of the Marine gave Shell permission to use explosives in Broadhaven Bay for pipeline laying.

However, Shell had carried out good research and knew that whales were particularly sensitive to noise and opted to use a less intrusive mechanical method.

When the Department of the Environment was asked to produce actions plans that spell out how each sensitive species should be dealt with they had prepared one only for the toad, and there was no evidence that work was under way on the other species. The court was very critical of the Irish situation and awarded costs against Ireland.