Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this important debate. I thank Deputy Luke 'Ming' Flanagan and his colleagues for bringing forth this motion.

A series of Governments ignored what needed to be done in terms of consultation with people on this issue, resulting in genuine and decent people being at odds with the directive. This Government has taken a positive approach to this issue. I welcome the establishment by the Minister, Deputy Deenihan, of the Peatlands Council and the forum under the chairmanship of Mr. Justice Quirke and the putting in place of a national peatlands strategy, all of which should have be done a long time ago. However, I am delighted it is being done now.

As has been said, this is an emotive issue. It is easy to engage in negativity. The real challenge is to work together to achieve a solution. I am delighted the Turf Cutters and Contractors Association, which enjoys the trust of turf cutters throughout the country, is using its leadership role to engage and make positive suggestions. Its contribution and that of Mr. Justice Quirke will be critical in terms of engagement with people in finding a resolution to this issue. Many other people have worked hard to bring this matter to a conclusion. In this regard, I commend Irish Rural Link and Mr. Seamus Boland on their work in finding alternative bogs for people in Clara wishing to continue to cut turf. Through the relationship built up with Bord na Móna by Irish Rural Link, people came together and reached a conclusion, as in the case of Mountbellew. Through my engagement on this issue with people I discovered that while many people had received forms from the Department, they had forgotten to fill them in and return them. I urge people to make an informed decision on this issue and to fill and return their forms.

Our business around the environment has gotten a little lost in the debate on this issue. We have enjoyed the benefits of turf cutting for 400 years but we must now look to the future in terms of the type of country we will hand over to our children and the next generation. We must not lose sight of the fact that we need to reduce our carbon footprint, greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on fossil fuels. We must look to the future in terms of what we will leave behind for our children.

Many bogs have the potential for other uses. People will not lose ownership of their bogs. I urge the Minister to involve landowners in management of their bogs. Landowners will get involved and will look for other uses for the bogs that will not result in the type of damage caused in some areas.

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