Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 6 February 2019

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs

Preservation of the Biodiversity and Ecosystems of Peatlands: Discussion

Dr. Catherine Farrell:

There were a couple of questions on wind farms on peat land. In the transition phase, we will try to ensure jobs. As an ecologist, I would love to say there will be wetlands, woodlands and restored bogs all over the place but we have to maximise the commercial use too. Cutaway bogs present a good opportunity for renewable energy projects. Instead of digging out loads of peat from an intact bog or an intact blanket bog in an SAC we could locate wind farms on cutaways where the peat is more shallow, where we already have the infrastructure and which are located next to the grid. We have to pick the right sites for wind farms and the right sites for wetlands. We are looking to reduce peat production and to have rehabilitation and restoration, as well as renewables, all of which are part of the decarbonisation story for Bord na Móna.

I would love to meet Deputy Fitzmaurice on the bog in Attymon. We started a process there in November and my colleague, Barry O'Loughlin has been doing great work there. We met the local co-operative and looked at the drainage of the site. I was there last Monday morning to make sure any work we do does not impact on adjoining lands. Water is flowing through the site and there is great potential for rewetting the peats for the regeneration of sphagnum and peat-forming habitats.

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