The Government faces fines of €8 million a year or €21,917 a day from the European Commission unless it takes measures to offer adequate safeguards for protected birds, including the Hen Harrier.
A spokesman for the Department of the Environment's Heritage Service admitted yesterday that "the threat is a very real one" after the Government received a Reasoned Opinion from the Commission saying it was falling short on a number of fronts in implementing the EU Birds Directive.
The spokesman confirmed that, if found guilty to be in breach of the directive, the Government could face large fines.
He said: "There is precedent for this as the Greek government was last year hit with daily fines after failing to implement a directive concerning a waste disposal matter in Crete."
The spokesman said the Department was in the process of responding to the Reasoned Opinion and is to designate nine new Special Protection Areas (SPA) containing the Hen Harrier before the end of the year.
There are an estimated 130 pairs of the rare bird of prey in Ireland, and the proposed new sites will add to the 110 SPAs which cover 222,832 hectares of Irish territory.
Already the proposed designation of the Hen Harrier SPAs has generated strong opposition from farmers in the Limerick-Kerry-Tipperary area who believe that if the sites are designated it will prevent them earning an income from windfarms and afforestation in upland areas.
The spokesman acknowledged that there ha been resistance from farmers to the proposed designations, which he admitted have fallen behind schedule.
He also strongly cautioned against any farmers going ahead with threats to shoot Hen Harriers as a way of avoiding designation.
However, the IFA president, Mr John Dillon, said yesterday the Department's handling of the issue to date was forcing farmers to take action into their own hands.
