Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 23 October 2019

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action

Peatlands Restoration and Rehabilitation: Discussion

Mr. Brian Lucas:

I will start. For the €5 million earmarked in budget 2020, that overall programme involves 36 bogs, which are the designated raised bog sites. That is what I will focus on. This will begin with nine bogs next year. Over the whole programme, it is hoped to be able to store is 28 megatons of carbon. In the bogs next year, it would be hoped to store 6 megatonnes of carbon, which would result in reduction in CO2 emissions of approximately 5,000 tonnes per year. I have looked at the figures and I have been on bogs and have seen the drains that have been successfully blocked. That has been done, as Deputy Fitzmaurice has said, with a digger where one inserts the peat or plastic dams. I can send on the figures we have. We have done some estimates on how many machines one would need over a bog but off the top of my head, I cannot remember the figures.

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