Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

It is a great pity that, as a Member of this House, he will not have regard to the fact that there are laws with which people must comply. If they are not complied with, those who choose to break them are doing so in circumstances in which they are apparently intent on having fines of tens of thousands of euro imposed on the rest of the community and expect the rest of the community to take them on their shoulders. My colleague, the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Jimmy Deenihan, has done everything humanly possible to have this problem addressed in a manner which is respectful of those who for many years had access to bogs which may no longer be used for turf cutting. A scheme was proposed and put in place, mediation was organised and it was hoped and understood that this process would produce an outcome. Unfortunately, it appears there is no possible outcome. I do not know whether that is simply because of a general incapacity or refusal to understand the serious position the State is in or whether there may be some Member of this House who wants to play politics with the issue for his own benefit.

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