Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have a question for Mr. Lucas. Given the importance of restoring the peatlands, has the Department set out a verifiable pathway for the rehabilitation recommended by the committee? There is a division between Departments and I realise civil servants cannot do much about this. However, there is a problem here. The Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment and the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht are dealing with this. Is that causing a problem and giving rise to an unco-ordinated approach?

I also have a couple of questions for Dr. Renou-Wilson regarding the uses for cutaway bog in terms of biomass on the cutaway section on the edges. It is hard to grow anything on top of a raised bog. I have not seen many people being successful with that. The only things that grow on it are heather and sphagnum. We have to get them growing again when the bogs are rewetted to regenerate them and keep them as growing bogs. That is why they are raised in the first place. As regards the cutaway areas where all the peat has been extracted on the edges, there is a large amount of that in Laois, Offaly and other midland counties. In terms of growing biomass, what is most suitable there? Willow has been tried and I understand it has not been successful. She mentioned wet crops. There are three power stations located in areas where there is large amount of bog. They were located there for that reason. Is there an opportunity to grow biomass there to fire those power stations? In terms of trees on cutaway bogs, if willow did not work, what is the potential for small trees? Silver birch is growing really well on the cutaway bogs. It is growing naturally all over the place. Is there potential to use silver birch or small fast-growing, broadleaf trees for biomass?

On the nationally designated NHAs and the SACs, will Mr. Lucas outline the difference between those? Will he provide a synopsis of what is proposed for each of them and which ones are being given priority in terms of rehabilitation?