Paul Connaughton (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion. I have in common with Deputy Luke 'Ming' Flanagan the fact that the bog in my area of Mountbellew is one of those in the SAC area that has been designated to be taken over at the end of this year. As much as I am an elected representative, I am fully aware of the issues and the hurt, anger and mistrust of people about this issue. When I first got wind of this news I was 16 years old and at that stage in my life, the idea that we would not be going back to the bog was not the worst news I ever got. It is amazing 14 years later how my opinion has changed drastically.

My party has been in government for 12 months and this is an issue that has come to bear on us. There were ten years in which nothing whatsoever was done with this issue. Unfortunately, among many of those whom I represent there was a false belief that this issue would go away and that if we did nothing, the European Commission would not come back knocking on the door to see what we were doing about it. Unfortunately, that is not the case and in the past few years, it has come back to bite us in a big way.

Many Deputies elected to this Dáil probably do not fully understand the issue. The people I represent are honest decent people who have been cutting turf for generations and who had hoped to pass on the bogs to their sons and daughters and their families coming down the line. That was the aim. None of these people believed they were breaking the law or doing anything wrong. Everything that I have done in the past 12 months is to represent those people. My concerns were never with the Government or with the Commission; they were with the rights of those people to cut turf. We have been backed into a corner and we have had to come up with solutions to this. The one issue that has been raised in this regard, and towards which we are working, is relocation.

Relocation is a solution we have made happen in our bog in Mountbellew which takes in Carrownnagappal and Curraghlehannagh bogs. The issue here is that people want to cut turf. There are many issues with this. It is not as simple as saying we have found a bog down the road, let us move there, job done. A lot more work goes into it.

I thank Dr. Conor Skehan for the work he has put in. The biggest problem we faced when beginning the process 12 months ago, as Deputy Clare Daly said, was mistrust. People did not trust the Government, Departments or officials. All they had been receiving for years was threatening letters stating what would happen to them if they did not get off bogs, which was a ridiculous way to treat anybody. Some were elderly persons who were cutting a few hoppers of turf to heat their house for the winter. To see them receiving threatening letters from people they did not know was ridiculous.

The first thing we did was to bring Dr. Skehan to our bog. Deputy Clare Daly said she had met many of the people affected in town hall meetings. We did not meet in the town hall, rather we met on the bog. At 10 a.m. on a Saturday morning we met our neighbours, cousins and friends. We first had to explain to them what was going on, why they were receiving threatening letters and why they, as honest and decent individuals, were being treated as if they were criminals, which was completely unacceptable. It is to Dr. Skehan's credit that we began to build trust. However, it was not done on one morning. It took many months to get people to believe they could trust the Government, the State and the officials on what they wanted to do.

Many issues arose. What Deputy Flanagan has said is true. Of those involved on 55 bogs, we understand many of them can be relocated, but if people are to be relocated under the new proposal, every case must be seen as unique. For example, we were never going to move to a bog many miles away. Therefore, the first point is that people want to be relocated to bog close to them. The second concerns the quality of turf available. We were not going to move from a bog which provided a very good source of fuel to one where the quality was not as good. The third and most important point is that we had to work with those who wanted to move and those who wanted compensation. There are those who genuinely want compensation and it is their right to seek it. In that process which has taken well over six months to complete there has been a lot of hard work and consultation which had been sadly lacking for ten years.

Deputy Thomas Pringle said he was afraid this issue might be linked with the upcoming referendum on the fiscal compact treaty. I assure him that issue was not discussed once in recent months in Mountbellew or Newbridge for that matter. I know the Leas-Cheann Comhairle knows many of those about whom I am talking. The fiscal compact treaty was not mentioned. It was about one simple issue - cutting turf. It was about the ability to cut turf, store it and bring it home, nothing more.

My father would certainly not have moved if the conditions were not right. We had to get the people to trust us on this issue. We had to tell them how the process was going to work. They had been let down for ten or 12 years by a decision we had to take on board. If we are going to get through this, we have to work together. I acknowledge the role played by the TCCA because the issue had continued for a long time. The TCCA had continued to raise it and inform people about what was happening. We were getting to a stage at which, every day, someone was receiving a threatening letter stating what would happen if he or she did not comply with the law, which was ridiculous. In the past six months, however, we have built trust that this can and will work. I am happy to say that in the past four weeks machines have moved into the bog at Killasolan just outside Mountbellew to begin to renovate it. Two weeks ago we brought the people who had signed contracts to their new location. We have now decided that they will be with us every step we take. They will be the final judges; they are the ones who are telling us whether we are doing it right or wrong. We wanted to show them that by taking a leap of faith and moving with us we would see work being done.

I would not stand over anyone's decision to relocate if he or she did not believe the Government was serious about renovating the bog to which he or she was moving. As I said, we brought people there two weeks ago, with Dr. Skehan and Mr. Conor Ó Raghallaigh of the National Parks and Wildlife Service present to supervise the work which is continuing. The hope is the people concerned will be able to cut turf there the year after next, which is why I welcome the increase in the allocation of turf. Approximately 35 to 40 people moved as part of the relocation and every case is different in that some cut for themselves, some for their family and some for relations. That is what will have to happen from now on.

I welcome Mr. Justice Quirke's report and the TCCA submission as they have a very good understanding of the position on the majority of bogs and of how the process will work and be implemented. However, it has not been easy up to this point and it will not be easy in the future. For every bog, there are 50, 60 or 70 people, all with different requirements and who will cut different amounts of turf. We will have to ensure we deal with them on an individual basis and understand their concerns. For too long, we did not bring people with us and they were ignored. They were not told the truth. We have to change this.

I want to see everyone working together, whether it be the Peatlands Council, Bord na Móna, the National Parks and Wildlife Servide, the Department and the TCCA. The only solution is to find the places to which people can relocate and set out a clear management plan for these bogs. The most important point is to keep people informed of what we are doing. A good start was made in Athlone last week which will have helped to build trust. However, we cannot afford to continue for another six or 12 months without further consultation. The more we keep people informed, the more they will feel they will have an opportunity to engage in the process.

I thank Mr. Gerry McNally of Bord na Mona whom we found to be extremely helpful in sourcing new bogs and learning how we could develop them. It is through that level of expertise and through such individuals in State bodies that we will be able to push on and genuinely solve the problem.

I acknowledge that relocation will be tougher in some instances and nigh on impossible in others. We will have to work with the Commission on these issues. These are issues in south Galway at Barroughter and Clonmoylan bogs and probably at Mouds bog in County Kildare. The people concerned cannot be ignored. The task for them and the Government is tougher, but they cannot be ignored. Whatever we can do to solve the problems faced must be done and should be done immediately, where possible. In the case of the bogs near Mountbellew - Carrownagappal and Curraghlehannagh bogs - we were able to find out quickly where the new bog was located and move to it.

This has been a thorny issue for the past 12 months, but it had been ignored for 12 years. We have done everything we can to restore the trust of the people involved, which has not been easy. However, I have seen at first-hand how relocation can work. Let us be very clear: it is not an easy path to follow. The most important people are the turf cutters - my family, friends and neighbours - and they must be consulted every step of the way. If we are to do anything, we must build trust among all those involved. Trust had broken down, including last summer owing to the way departmental officials had treated those who were cutting turf, which was wrong. We need to start from the base provided by the forum held last week in Athlone, to use what we achieved in Mountbellew and began at Clara. Let us push on from here and show that relocation can work, but let us not forget those who are working in very difficult bogs and who have as much of a right to cut turf in another bog as anyone else.

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