Mr. Gerry Ryan:

On Deputy Kyne's first question, we have approximately 80,000 hectares of land in the company's ownership, spread throughout the country, but mainly in the midlands, with some pieces in north-west Mayo and smaller pieces in Kerry and Donegal which are not in active production.

Approximately three quarters of the 80,000 ha, whatever that is, approximately 60,000 ha, are directly involved in the production process at the moment, either by way of actual production, namely, harvesting of peat off those acres, or by providing transport paths, headlands and so on. Quite extensive working areas for machines to turn and so on, which may not relate directly to harvesting the peat but are nevertheless part of the overall production process, are needed. Therefore, approximately three quarters, or 60,000 ha, are actively involved in the production process.

In respect of lifespan, Mr. Quinn has already noted that we expect the fuel peat to last until 2030 or thereabouts, based on current forecasts. The horticultural peat would last a bit longer, probably another ten or 20 years, depending on demand.

None of the areas that we operate production on are currently designated under the special area of conservation, SAC, or national heritage area, NHA, processes. None of the rest of our land is either. Over the years, in a number of cases we have passed areas to the National Parks and Wildlife Service which it has subsequently designated as SACs or NHAs. I mentioned earlier on that we have an extensive programme of rehabilitation and restoration of peatland on which we are not actively in production. We have a number of areas where we never entered into production although these were acquired in the same way as all other peatlands in the past. In fact, the National Parks and Wildlife Service has identified with our co-operation and help a number of areas which may be suitable for designation as SACs and NHAs later in this year and we are co-operating fully with that process. The reason they are so desirable or suitable for designation is because of the work we have carried out in the past in relation to restoration and rehabilitation and we are very happy to be in a situation where those lands can be designated.