Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)

From the response, I do not think the Minister of State appreciates the distress and tension this situation is causing in the local community. He outlined the compensation schemes available but the reality is there are 40 families in the area who are well aware of the schemes but have not entered the schemes and will not enter them. They have been allowed to cut turf on these bogs for many years. Now they are being left without the fuel they rely on to heat their homes. I have outlined that many of the people affected are elderly. It is a deeply unfair situation. They have been kept in the dark about the process of designating the bogs as SACs and the ongoing works by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS. They feel they are being bullied and coerced into signing up to a scheme they do not wish to sign up to. It is regrettable to see how divisive it becomes in the local community when people are pressured into signing up to something like this.

The Minister of State said no formal request for ministerial consent has been received. Can he clarify whether a formal request must be made? Were a request to be received, would it be considered and, in the Minister of State's view, granted? If clarity cannot be provided on these issues, I ask that at the very least, the Minister of State or the Minister, Deputy Browne, or the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, from the Department would meet the families affected and hear first-hand about the impact it is having on them. They are very reasonable people who work hard and want to get on with their lives in peace and quiet. Will the Minister of State or the Minister, Deputy Browne, or the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, from the Department commit to meeting them before the end of the year? I would be more than happy to facilitate it.

See this speech in context