John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

A similar ten-year derogation applies to bogs designated after 1999. When NHAs were designated in 2004, under an agreement with the farming organisations, another ten-year derogation was put in place, allowing cutting in NHAs until 2014. In the meantime, a review of the state of our bogs has revealed severe and continuing damage by domestic turf cutting. In the ten years since commercial cutting was ended in designated areas, approximately 35% of the remaining area of this priority EU habitat has been lost. We are losing a further 2% to 4% of our remaining active raised bog per annum.

The overall scientific assessment of this habitat is "unfavourable, bad", which is the worst of three categories for EU reporting purposes. It is clear that, at the minimum, such unfavourable habitat status must be addressed by measures to ensure improvement. In the light of the scientific evidence, it would not be appropriate to extend the ten-year periods for the ending of cutting.

Since 1999, the Government has actively encouraged the cessation of domestic cutting by buying the traditional turf-cutting rights through a voluntary scheme of compensation. This covers both SACs and NHAs. It is the Government's responsibility to ensure that Ireland meets its obligations with regard to protecting at least a portion of what remains of this valuable element of Irish and European natural heritage.

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