Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I place on record the disgust, annoyance and downright opposition of thousands of turf cutters to the impending decision to prevent them from cutting their turf on their bogs for domestic purposes. In recent months, large numbers of people - up to 400 people - have attended meetings all over the west to protest in the strongest possible manner about the cessation of turf cutting on the 32 raised bogs under the EU habitats directive. Thousands of signatures have been collected, acres of space have been given to this problem by local media and local radio extensively covers the many and varied objections rural people have to this atrocious attack on their personal lives.

This is not an ordinary protest where people slowly retreat into the background when they have made their point. Turf cutters are prepared to make concessions and have no major problems in having the various bogs taken over under the EU directive, provided their plots of turbary are left for turf cutting for domestic purposes. Surely in bogs such as my own at Carnagopple, Mountbellew, County Galway, which extends to almost 1,100 acres, of which no more than 60 acres are used for domestic turf cutting, it is possible to come to an agreement to acquire the 98% of the bog that is unused without interfering with the turf cutting area.

I ask the Minister to revisit the primary European legislation, the habitats directive, with a view to having its transposition into Irish law scrutinised in an effort which would allow the Government to meet its commitments under the directive, while providing flexibility to allow existing turf cutters to cut domestic supplies of turf. I strongly suggest that great thought and negotiation skills be employed to deal with this problem as otherwise what I and all other turf cutters believe is an unjustified attack on the history and customs of rural Ireland will provoke great contention, anger and opposition.

On a commercial basis alone, given the dreadful mess our economy is in, one must ask the reason the European Union or a national government would want to prevent people from supplying their own domestic fuel supplies at a time when the price of imported oil is steadily rising to a record level. The Exchequer does not have a red cent to pay for anything, without resorting to the use of taxpayers' money to pay turf cutters for bog they do not want to sell. I call on the Minister to take this issue seriously because if flexibility and goodwill are not shown to turf cutters, there will be great opposition to the confiscation of the bogs next spring.

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