Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I raised tonight's matter on the Adjournment on 1 April. Speaking on the debate, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government stated that he expected to see the report and the recommendations of the group set up to look at the cessation of turf cutting on 32 raised bogs in the coming days. He stated that he would then conclude his considerations on the matter as quickly as possible, with a view to making his proposals available to the Government without delay.

I took those words at face value, and I was very surprised to find out within hours in the national newspapers that there was to be a complete ban on turf cutting. This is not the spirit in which we want to resolve a vexed issue in rural Ireland. We must work with all the stakeholders to get a reasonable outcome.

The country is in a state of emergency, and turf cutting is an economic issue, a national issue and a European issue. The Minister should now extend the turf cutting derogations in view of the difficult times in which we live. The proposals mainly affect rural families who have the opportunity to provide their own fuel. They could essentially be denied the right to cut turf to heat up their homes. Why should people have to pay a carbon tax and then be denied the right to carry on a centuries old tradition? The areas of conservation were determined many years ago.

For almost two years, the turf cutters and many politicians have asked the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government to produce the maps that determine these areas. Department officials refused, or else did not have these maps. The Minister claimed that the maps have been made available to the Oireachtas environment committee, but this came as a surprise because the Department did not have the maps for 18 months. The maps currently being used were not used in 1997 when these areas were drawn up. Some counties cross one another in the maps, so I believe these maps are flawed. The turf cutters want to enter into dialogue with the Department and they want to be sure that everything is open and transparent.

This issue has been ongoing for many years. There are people who want to carry on the tradition of cutting turf. Turf is what heats their homes. It is their oil well. Up to 98% of the country's bogs are harvested by Bord na Móna, but there seems to be no restrictions on this company, whereas ordinary people cutting turf to heat their homes find that the jackboot of the Government is coming down very firmly on them.

I have been at many meetings and I have seen the anger on the ground. We are talking about people who understand the environment and our land. They have come up with scientific information that flies in the face of the so-called information we get from the Department.

We want all the stakeholders - the Department officials, the turf cutters' association and the contractors - to sit come up with a solution. It can be done. I have called for dialogue on numerous occasions. These people are aggrieved that their views have not been taken on board. A committee was set up that did not include any members of the turf cutters' association. It was an interdepartmental group. The turf cutters feel they are being excluded.

I want the right to cut turf to continue. There is a great opportunity to have a dialogue with the turf cutters association. I would be glad to facilitate such a discussion, as would most Members across the House. The Minister is making a mistake if he thinks that people from the Department can go out and stop people from cutting their turf. There is anger that can be contained by working with the people. We want to care for the environment and we will do so, but we want to ensure that we can cut turf. This is the time to sit down for talks to get a proper resolution once and for all.

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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It should be clearly understood that there is no issue regarding turf cutting on the majority of Irish bogs. A small number of raised bogs, which comprise approximately 4% of bogland within the State where turf cutting is feasible, has been designated for conservation purposes. For 32 of these sites, the ten-year derogation allowing a continuation of turf cutting for domestic purposes has now elapsed. No further cutting can take place on these sites without the express consent of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

The Minister is fully aware of the difficulties this may present to those who have, up to this year, been cutting turf on these 32 raised bog sites. For this reason he established an interdepartmental working group on the cessation of turf cutting in designated raised bogs to explore these very issues. The working group was established last year. It included representatives of the Departments of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Finance, Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Community Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, the Office of Public Works, the Office of the Attorney General and the Office of the Chief State Solicitor.

The terms of reference of the group, which are available on the website of the National Parks and Wildlife Service, required it to consider the arrangements that would be necessary, including financial arrangements, to achieve the introduction of further restrictions to domestic turf cutting in raised bog special areas of conservation and natural heritage areas. It invited submissions from all interested parties and met numerous associations representing both turf cutting interests and conservationists. Each representative group had an opportunity to put their case to the group and seek whatever clarifications they required.

The Minister is now considering the findings and recommendations which the group has made in its report regarding the required restrictions on further turf cutting in this limited number of sites. Following consultation with his colleagues and a Government decision, any new arrangements will be initiated without delay, and will include direct notification of owners and users of the bogs affected.

There are 130 special areas of conservation and natural heritage areas designated for the protection of raised bog, which is a rare and priority habitat under the habitats directive. Ireland is obliged by law to protect these bogs.

While only a relatively small number of bogs and turf cutters are potentially affected by the necessary cessation of turf cutting, the Government is conscious of the needs of the people who rely on their turf for domestic heating.