Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

I too acknowledge the role played by the Defence Forces, particularly in my county, in dealing with the serious problem of gorse fires. However, the costs of the operations to the Defence Forces came to €100,000. It will be a far greater cost to local authorities. I pay tribute to the fire services in the counties affected who gave up weeks to fight the fires.

Our timber industry is lucrative. Given that there is a suspicion that some of these fires were started deliberately, has the Minister had any discussions with the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Phil Hogan, on recouping some of these costs and to send out the signal that we will not stand for such actions?

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