Mr. Fintan Kelly:

On the point of whether the nature restoration or rewetting target is comparable to the climate action plan's reduced management intensity target, our assessment is they are directly comparable. This was confirmed to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine by Dr. Humberto Delgado Rosa of the Commission earlier this year. There are issues within the definition for rewetting and restoration in the proposal. We have asked the Commission to address that. Hopefully, that will address some concerns in the final version.

On the point of rewetting and impacts on species such as red grouse, if a degraded bog that has transitioned to a form of heath is rewetted and restored to a healthy raised bog habitat, that might displace the red grouse. If it were done properly, however, it would also result in probably more heath habitat around the new raised bog habitat. In many ways, you could benefit species that are dependent on both bog habitat and wet and dry heath habitat. It is not necessarily a clear trade-off. These schemes and projects can be designed appropriately and can benefit multiple species.