Mr. Brian Lucas:

I thank the Chairman and the committee for inviting me to make this presentation on behalf of the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. I shall first give the committee a little background to the policy framework on peatlands and then I will speak about the national peatlands strategy and peatlands restoration.

Peatlands cover approximately 20% of the State's land area and their use has implications across a wide spectrum of public policy. Ireland's peatlands, occurring as raised bogs, blankets bogs or fens are unique on a national and global scale. Ireland recognised the importance of these peatlands and took steps to protect these sites through designation as special areas of conservation, SACs, and natural heritage areas, NHAs.

The national peatlands strategy has run since 2015 and has as its vision statement "to provide a long-term framework within which all of the peatlands within the State can be managed responsibly in order to optimise their social, environmental and economic contribution to the well-being of this and future generations".

The strategy sets out a cross-governmental approach to managing issues that relate to peatlands, including compliance with national and EU environmental law, climate change, forestry, flood control, energy, nature conservation, planning and agriculture. It is underlined by 25 key principles and commits to the undertaking of 32 actions across various sectors and themes, including research, tourism, agriculture, forestry, conservation, restoration, peat extraction, energy, water quality and climate change.

The strategy has a timeframe of ten years and will be subject to a mid-cycle review in 2020. The publication of the first progress report on the implementation of the national peatlands strategy was approved by the Government and the report was published last year. Work on the second progress report is ongoing with a view to publication by the end of this year or early in 2020

As I have said, there are 32 actions in the strategy and I will give a flavour of progress on some of the actions. Among the progress to be reported is action No. 3 where the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine's European innovation partnerships, ElPs, programme has awarded a total of €59 million to 24 projects. Many of these are within Natura 2000 areas such as the hen harrier project and the pearl mussel project.

Action No. 5 is a key issues paper for public consultation on a review of the use of peat in the horticultural industry that has recently been published. Submissions are invited on the key issues paper during the three month period closing on 20 January 2020. A copy of the paper has been sent to the Chairman of this committee and that of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

Action No. 8 is Bord na Móna's announcement that all Bord na Móna lands used for peat production will be rehabilitated in the long term in accordance with draft plans supplied to the Environmental Protection Agency. It also recently announced an accelerated exit strategy for peat production and its intention for an enhanced rehabilitation programme.

With regard to action No. 13, currently two eddy covariance towers have been established in the midlands on peatland sites with a further tower to be installed next year as part of the accelerated bog restoration programme. These flux towers are used as a tool for evaluating net CO2 or other gases exchange from terrestrial ecosystems to the atmosphere.

With action No. 14 the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and the Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to jointly fund a two-year research project titled: "The vulnerability of peatland ecosystems to a changing climate and increases in the frequency and severity of droughts." The project is scheduled to begin next year.

For action No. 27, in July 2019, the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Madigan, approved grant funding of just under €131,000 under the peatlands community engagement scheme, to 13 local community groups and organisations, with €16,245 in pre-funding to be provided to seven of these groups as start-up funding.

I shall conclude by referring to the Irish and international experience of wetland restoration. As recognised in the Government's Climate Action Plan 2019, restored peatlands are important carbon sinks, absorbing and storing large amounts of carbon as well as supporting improved biodiversity across Ireland. In December 2017, the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht published the National Raised Bog Special Areas of Conservation Management Plan 2017-2022. The management plan sets out how the raised bog special areas of conservation are to be managed, conserved and restored and how the needs of turf cutters are to be addressed. This restoration programme links with the peatland actions contained in the Government's Climate Action Plan 2019 and actions contained in the national peatlands strategy.

In budget 2020, €5 million has been allocated to embark on an accelerated programme of peatland restoration. With the injection of this funding, it is intended to restore over 1,800 ha of protected raised bog in the next year. Work on the restoration programme has already begun with a €5.4m project - the living bog - which is funded under the EU LIFE 2014 - 2020 programme. The Department, including the LIFE project team, has worked with international peatland experts to further hone its expertise in raised bog restoration In tandem with the LIFE project, the National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department is undertaking restoration works on State-owned lands within the designated raised bog network.

I thank the committee for inviting the Department to make this presentation and I am willing to answer any questions that members may have for the Department.