The Government is to \u201cvigorously defend\u201d its record on protecting sea life after the European Commission threatened legal action over alleged conservation failures. <\/p>\n
The commission is accusing the State of long-running noncompliance with the habitats directive and the birds directive.<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
It 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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhile 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,\u201d it said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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.\u201d <\/p>\n
[\u00a0Coillte, Bord na M\u00f3na lands to be handed over under new effort to tackle \u2018abysmal\u2019 state of nature in IrelandOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n Oonagh Duggan, head of policy at BirdWatch Ireland, urged the Government to act on the warning as soon as possible. <\/p>\n