Luke Flanagan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I would really appreciate if the Minister did not, when asked a question, come to the Chamber and read verbatim from a script which he does not even understand. If the idea of the Habitats Directive is to preserve bogs, I have no problem with that, as they are fantastic habitats which need to be preserved. There should also be room for turf cutters. If the idea of preservation is to improve quality, will the Minister, rather than reading verbatim from a script, explain how my bog grew by 120.1%, and in area is only down 1.5% in 17 years? Fernandez has indicated that turf cutting is on the decline so over the next 17 years, the decrease will be even less. At the same time, Lough Forbes has lost 91.6% of its active raised bog habitat. What exactly is the Minister trying to achieve?

It is quite clear what is being achieved. The Minister is alienating turf cutters and destroying habitat. Will he deal with the issues? If one reads some of the stuff about us in the media, one would think we are trying to destroy bogs but my bog and that of our group's chairman are the best performing bogs in the country.

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