Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputies MacSharry and Connolly for raising these matters. Forest fires have a significant impact, as we are witnessing. Deputy Connolly has set out the scene that is taking place at Cloosh Valley in Galway, a place I know well as I am from Galway myself.

Responding to these fires and to public safety is key at this time. Forest fires can destroy habitats, wildlife, farm land and farm structures and can threaten homes and lives. They bear a huge cost not just to physical property, but also the cost of disruption to normal emergency services operations. On behalf of the Government, I acknowledge and pay tribute to the tremendous work of the emergency services and the co-operation of other State agencies, including the Army, the Air Corps and Coillte in keeping these fires under control and attempting to extinguish them. I take this opportunity to remind and urge the public to follow the advice of the emergency services and to stay away from any areas affected by the fires. Any uncontrolled or unattended fires should be reported to emergency services.

I understand the Sligo Camino follows the Sligo Way through some of the finest scenery in the west of Ireland. The route is a challenging mixture of tracks, trails and forest paths. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has today informed my office that the part of the boardwalk on the Sligo Camino that was damaged by the gorse fires is not on Coillte land and is not afforested. I am advised that the boardwalk damage is located on privately owned commonage, which was developed jointly by Sligo County Council and the Sligo Leader programme.

In respect of my own office, under the minor flood mitigation works and coastal protection scheme, referred to by Deputy MacSharry, the Office of Public Works provides funding to local authorities to undertake minor flood mitigation measures costing less than €500,000 each to address local flooding and coastal protection problems within their administrative areas. Funding of up to 90% of the cost is available for approved projects with the balance being funded by the local authority concerned. Local authorities submit funding applications in the prescribed format, which are then assessed by the OPW having regard to the specific technical, economic, social and environmental criteria of the scheme, including a cost benefit assessment. With regard to the latter, proposals must meet a minimum benefit to cost ratio of 1.5:1 in order to qualify. The scheme operates to fund works to mitigate flood risk. Repairs to forest trails destroyed by forest fires do not quality under this scheme.

While today we are seeing the Government's proactive response to forest fires when they occur, the Government is also very active in its management of the risk of fires, including through issuing fire danger notices. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has issued a number of fire danger notices to the forestry sector since the beginning of March, including elevating the risk to red on 2 May in advance of the recent spate of fires. These fires are monitored through a combination of EU Copernicus and US NASA data streams which have detected over 50 illegal fire locations using satellite data up to 21 April of this year.

The Government has also legislated to prohibit burning on land that is not cultivated. It is an offence under section 40 of the Wildlife Act 1976, as amended by section 46 of the Wildlife Act 2000, for landowners or the public to burn any vegetation growing on any land not then cultivated from 1 March to 31 August in any year. Individuals who are found to burn vegetation within that prohibited period are liable to prosecution by An Garda Síochána or by the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

I assure the Deputies that the Government will continue to work closely with the emergency services, local authorities, An Garda Síochána and the National Parks and Wildlife Service, as well as with farm organisations and the forestry industry to try to address the problem of uncontrolled fires and will act on any incidents cross-reported to it, as appropriate.

I urge all forest owners, farmers, rural dwellers and other countryside users to be vigilant to the threat of fire, to report any suspicious activity to An Garda Síochána, and to report any uncontrolled or unattended fires immediately to the fire and emergency services via the 112 or 999 service.

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