Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is important to remember that this Bill arises from the Review of Raised Bog Natural Heritage Area Network, which was published in 2014. The reconfiguration of the raised bog natural heritage area network, which this legislation will facilitate, is based on sound, scientific evidence and will have a positive impact on the network. The focus of the Bill is to provide for the implementation of a reconfiguration of the raised bog natural heritage area network arising from the proposals from the review published in 2014, a strategic environmental assessment of the proposals arising from the review, and if required, any other screening for an assessment or, as the case may be, assessment undertaken and observations or submissions received during the course of public consultation.

There was a fairly lengthy process to go through before we could get to this stage. What I wanted to do was to focus on the raised bogs for now, get the de-designation done, complete the process, give certainty and come back to the blanket bogs at a later date by which time the scientific work will have been done and I will be in a position to make an informed and balanced decision after consultation with the stakeholders. There is a process we must go through before we could look at the blanket bogs. We do not know what restrictions will be put on them, if any, and it would be best if we could allow the proposals on the raised bogs to proceed and to deal with the blanket bogs after a due process has been completed.