QUAD BIKE and scrambler riders and sports utility vehicle drivers are destroying special areas of conservation but cannot be apprehended, the Dáil has heard.
Mary White (GP, Carlow-Kilkenny) said that most of the damage "to the most magnificent habitats" on the Carlow-Wexford border and the Wicklow uplands takes place at weekends; national park conservation rangers generally patrol on Monday to Friday.
Minister for Education Batt O'Keeffe said the Department of the Environment is drafting amendments to the habitats directive to include measures to "make the control of such vehicles and activities more effective". The Government is considering the introduction of registration and licensing requirements for recreational off-road users.
Ms White said "there are penalties for unauthorised activities including the seizure of vehicles, fines of up to €3,000 and imprisonment of six months. However, detection and identification are virtually impossible."
The Green TD called for an increase in the number of wildlife rangers and for local authorities to be encouraged to enact by-laws. She suggested that a form of legislation could be introduced to protect commonage areas, where farmers graze their sheep. Otherwise, "under the EU habitats directive, farmers will be penalised" and the Government could also face sanction.
Speaking for the Minister for the Environment, Mr O'Keeffe said the offenders' activities involve "driving in some of the most remote and rugged parts of the mountains, through fragile upland peatlands. This can cause soil erosion and damage."
Mr O'Keeffe said he understood that "many quad bike riders seek to scale Lugnaquilla, the highest mountain in Co Wicklow and barriers erected to prevent entry at certain locations have been damaged and knocked down".
The National Parks and Wildlife Service organises patrols but "the sheer extent of these upland areas, numerous access points, lack of identification marks on off-road vehicles and their high mobility make it very difficult to apprehend the offenders", the Minister said.
"Even if putative offenders are apprehended in such places as forestry car parks, it is generally not possible to establish that a particular person or vehicle was involved in the committing of an offence."
