EU warns Ireland on wild birds protection

Ireland has received a formal warning from the European Commission over delays in responding to environmental complaints. The warning, the first stage in legal proceedings, arises primarily from the Government's failure to clarify the status of Dublin Bay as a special protection area under the Wild Birds Directive (WBD).

But the Commission made clear in a statement yesterday its concern that in comparison with Italy and France, which also received warnings, delays in Ireland "have been a more regular feature". Ireland was warned last summer that funding for structural projects might be in jeopardy because of delays in the notification of which natural sites would be listed for protection under the Habitats Directive.

The Commission said its new warning was due to "failure to classify Dublin Bay as a special protection area under the WBD and the failure to apply the directive's safeguards to a range of plans and projects affecting the bay, including a draft Dublin city development plan which made provisions for a motorway bypass route under Sandymount Strand". The Commission reported a successful meeting with the Irish authorities over classification and concerns about the proposed Dublin waste water treatment plant in the bay, but said it was still awaiting a response to detailed questions.