Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)

I would appreciate that.

I wish to refer to an issue mentioned by Deputy Burke on the habitats directive. Like Deputy Burke, I have long fought the case of people who want to cut turf. I declare an interest in that I also cut turf, but not in a designated area. There is nothing in the Lisbon treaty to affect Irish control over our bogs. Our bogs are protected under the habitats directive, which was negotiated with full participation by Ireland and freely adopted by us. We are talking about a small number of bogs. It was our own national parks and wildlife service that listed these bogs and not a decision made by Europe. The European Union provides considerable money - up to €500 million - to help preserve these prime natural heritage areas. There is a case for reviewing the particular designation. If people have been cutting turf for generations I cannot see why they would now be stopped when there is so much bog that could be conserved. I hope that an interdepartmental group will consider that matter.

I received a submission from the Council for the West, which made a very strong case outlining how the BMW region has had economic success in a European context. While we were probably the poorest region in Europe when there were only nine member states, the accession of Greece, Portugal and Spain, and the later reunification of Germany probably meant we lost that title, and by 1991 we had a GDP per person which was less than 60% of the EC average. Obviously many of the structures introduced in the BMW region have resulted in us making progress. There has been great support by bodies such as the county and urban councils, county enterprise boards, Leader, CLÁR, local development agencies and regional bodies, such as the Western Development Commission, Údarás na Gaeltachta, the regional authorities and the BMW Assembly. I obviously would be concerned that any proposals by the McCarthy group to abolish the Western Development Commission, for example, or to merge or subsume these bodies into Enterprise Ireland would affect a body such as the Western Development Commission.

I hope I will be able to see this progress continue. Obviously our membership of the European Union has been very important as has been highlighted by farming organisations and the Western Development Commission. I join in the congratulations to the Minister of State present and his colleagues for the work they have done.

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