Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The option of relocating turf cutters from Coolrain bog to Ballaghmore bog was examined by the former Minister but it is now out of the equation. The draft raised bog management plan stated only 1 ha of degraded raised bog can be restored at Coolrain bog. Will she examine this and exercise the possibility under Article 6.4 of the habitats directive which Alan Seatter of the European environment directorate general in Brussels, confirmed to me can be used? There is flexibility and the turf cutters at Coolrain bog want to have a credible plan. If the Minister leaves this to the NPWS, National Parks and Wildlife Service, and civil servants, it will not be solved. She is new in the Department. Will she grab this issue by the scruff of the neck to solve this problem?

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