Mr. Gerry Ryan:

I thank the Chair. The first point is all the peat extraction activities we operate in Bord na Móna are fully licensed under licences issued by the Environmental Protection Agency. We are the only licensed extractor of peat in the State and all our activities are supervised and are carried out in accordance with strict terms set out in the various licences. We have nine different licences issued by the EPA and they contain very strict conditions in respect of all our activities. Moreover, all our activities are carried out to ensure we are in full compliance with the licence conditions. Through the Chair, I note to the Deputy that one licence condition is that we are required to stabilise the peatland when we have completed the economic extraction of peat. We have a number of projects that have been ongoing for many years regarding the rehabilitation and restoration of peatlands. In particular, in a very large area in excess of 5,000 acres of our peatlands in north-west Mayo, we have the largest rehabilitation and restoration project regarding peatland habitats in Europe. We also have a dedicated team of ecologists employed by the board to ensure all our activities are carried out with the minimum impact on the environment in general and biodiversity in particular. This is the way we regulate our activities under peat extraction.