Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Sinn Féin is committed to the preservation of our national wildlife and resources, including our raised bogs. It is fair to say that most people in this country who cut turf could say the same about themselves and they would be right. I feel as if I have to say this because there has been an inclination among environmentalists to suggest that turf cutters, even those cutting only for their own personal use, are somehow careless when it comes to the environment. This could not be further from the truth, a truth that can be seen in the regard in which Irish bogs are held by environmentalists at home and abroad and the amount of wildlife which survives and thrives in our boglands.

This Bill provides the legislative basis for the implementation of the review of the raised bog natural heritage area network which was published in January 2014. This review was needed as the first designations were very badly conceived. We support this Bill noting that as result of its enactment, there will be more and bigger areas of active raised bog and degraded raised bog still capable of natural regeneration. In addition, fewer turf cutters will be required to cease cutting turf on their bog. It seems like a lot of blood, sweat and tears of frustration and rage have been shed in coming to this conclusion which was going to happen anyway. It should not be the case that a Government has to act in haste to implement an EU directive such as the habitats directive which after all has been around since 1992.

In this case, due to years of failure to protect our bogs, mainly by Fianna Fáil Governments, the situation reached crisis point with the EU threatening a fine of €9 million plus €25,000 per day thereafter due to that failure to protect our raised bogs. There were people who were led to believe that because they were involved in domestic turf cutting only, they were working under a derogation but it seems that the derogation was granted by the Minister and not by the EU. All of this involved kicking it down the road. It did not lead to anything. It kicked the problem further ahead, left us in a situation where we were not really dealing with it and we created a bigger mess as a result. This neglect of the issue led in the end to disgraceful scenes of gardaí dragging people off bogs to prevent them cutting turf as their fathers, grandfathers and great grandfathers had done before them. The whole business had a devastating effect on some communities, made many people very angry, hurt people and put people under severe financial pressure because, of course, many of them were depending on their turbary rights to heat their homes. There were other effects as well. In my own area, people with farmland on the edge of bogs that were also designated could not farm the land properly because it came in under this area. This has created significant problems.

From when I was a child, we cut turf and reared turf on the bogs.

Like Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice, I am a bog man. There is more than one bog man in the Dáil. More than anything else, working the bog was about providing for one's family. That is what the people were doing. It was a disgrace that derogations were brought in which prevented people from doing something which they had always done in the past. It was totally wrong. While I welcome this day, it is regrettable that it took so long to get here.

The ecological destruction of our bogs by people cutting turf for domestic use is negligible compared to the massive destruction caused by the State and its neglect of environmental concerns in its turf cutting, mainly in the midlands, over many decades. Bord na Móna destroyed more bog in a couple of years than Irish people cutting turf for their own use have done over centuries. I am not just talking about turf cutting but peat milling. Across entire areas of the midlands, there are massive areas of bog where peat was milled. Bord na Móna took the surface of the bog away, piled it into big mounds, dried it and exported it for profit. This, more than anything else, has brought us to the situation in which we find ourselves. Never has any Government admitted it was responsible for doing it and was blaming the people who cut a bit of turf for it.

While the Bill is welcome, we must ensure that a similar dispute does affect our blanket bogs, where issues are arising. Domestic turf cutters in Connemara who thought they were permitted to cut turf on blanket bogs received letters from the Department last week telling them they would have to carry out an environmental impact assessment, EIA, in order to cut turf on their bogs. The Department has already carried out an EIA on the area, but despite numerous requests during the past three years, it has failed to provide it to these turf cutters. It does not seem to make sense that local people engaged in domestic turf cutting - more people are dependent on their own turf due to the financial pressure and the fact that we have a non-recovery in the west of Ireland - are being asked to fork out up to €5,000 to do an EIA when the Department has already carried out its own. The kind of pressure these people are being put under does not bode well and they hope it does not start another conflict-ridden and highly-charged dispute between the State and turf cutters. I have a copy of the letter people received from the Department telling them that an EIA statement had to be done. I hope the Minister will take the time to meet these people and come to a resolution with them. This situation must be resolved in order to avoid another debacle which might take years to resolve and impose a heavy toll on so many of those who might try to resolve it.

It is regrettable that it has taken so long to come to this conclusion. I know people who cut turf in west Cavan and around Lough Sheelin, in the Minister's constituency, who have been in a very serious and difficult situation regarding this.

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