Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I wish to share time with Deputy Phil Hogan.

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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It sounds like a meitheal.

Michael Kennedy (Dublin North, Fianna Fail)
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Will the Deputy get time to go out and cut a few this week?

Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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It always took two, three or more to do it.

I am sorry I must return to this issue due to the Government decision taken last week, which appears to steamroll thousands of bog owners off their properties from this week onwards. It has been carried out in a terribly ham-fisted way. I have put on the record before and I will do so again tonight that I happen to be one of those bog owners and bog harvesters, and unashamedly so I can assure the House.

The bog owners were very shabbily treated because nobody received an individual letter to explain the reason for the confiscation of their bogs, and that is what this is. It was announced in a news bulletin after the Government made its decision. An interdepartmental committee had been sitting on this since last August but we never heard what it came up with as its findings were never published. It met all the stakeholders and as far as we are concerned it was camouflage to allow the Minister enough time to do what he did last week.

People involved in this are the most law-abiding individuals one would meet on a day's walk. There are shades of the rod licence dispute about this and I want to state this in the House so nobody is under any illusions. People who have inherited bogs through generations and cut their domestic supply of turf from their bogs are substituting for very expensive imported oil. It will be extraordinarily difficult for them to walk off the bog.

The Taoiseach finally stated to me today that €1 million was made available-----

Michael Kennedy (Dublin North, Fianna Fail)
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Is the Deputy sharing time?

Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Yes.

That €1 million is amazing, given that several hundred bog owners sold their bogs to the Department in the past four years and did not receive a penny. I do not know where the €1 million came from or to whom it was given. Whatever flexibility is in the system should be used to go back and discuss it further. I have no doubt that there is a way out of it but it is not through the steamrolling done by the Government last week.

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Connaughton for sharing time.

Michael Kennedy (Dublin North, Fianna Fail)
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Will Deputy Hogan give him a hand later in the year?

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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This is a very serious issue as people in the midlands and on the west coast where there is bogland have discovered that they will be prevented from non-commercial turf cutting, which they have been used to for generations. It is not something we should throw out without proper consultation, or stakeholders being involved in the solution rather than having a diktat from the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

No derogation was given to Ireland under the EU habitats directive because a blind eye was turned to it for political reasons. In the meantime there was no proper consultation to seek a solution to include people who are the custodians of the environment, particularly those involved in agriculture, the land or turf cutting. They are the people who have nurtured the environment over the years and they do not need the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government or the Minister to sanction by diktat 32 boglands, as he did last Saturday under the EU habitats directive, to make them conform.

We need meaningful consultation and engagement. Perhaps we could have a pilot scheme on one bog where stakeholders could come to an agreement on a model for conservation that could be used on other boglands to comply with the outcome of negotiations on the EU habitats directive, and mediation if necessary. Down through the years, these people have been involved in turf cutting for non-commercial domestic fuel. We do not hear anything about the blanket banning of Bord na Móna from bogs as a conservation measure. Under the EU habitats directive, small householders traditionally involved in turf cutting are being blamed for the lack of conservation.

I call on the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, through the Minister of State, Deputy Moloney, to get meaningful negotiations under way, and ensure we have a pilot programme rather than the blanket ban, which is coming down the tracks and which was started last Friday by the Minister.

John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I am glad to provide the House with an update on the need for restrictions on turf cutting in a small number of designated raised bogs, and the arrangements that are being made to assist those who are affected. Ireland's raised bogs are very rare natural features and valuable ecosystems. Over time, Ireland has lost most of its raised bog area to land reclamation and peat exploitation. Once lost, our bogs cannot be replaced. The challenge for this generation is to strike a balance to protect the very best of our bogs so that future generations can enjoy them, while at the same time allowing the current generation to continue traditional practices like turf-cutting on non-designated bogs.

The Government and the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government have been working hard to strike that balance. For this reason only, the best of our remaining raised bogs were designated as special areas of conservation, SAC, or natural heritage areas, NHA. The Government is legally obliged to protect these sites under EU and national law. To this end, commercial turf extraction was ended on these sites many years ago but a derogation has allowed continued cutting for personal domestic fuel supply for a period of ten years.

The available evidence is that even this limited turf-cutting, and the drainage required to facilitate it, has caused asignificant loss of protected habitat. It does this in two ways: the drainage lowers the high water level necessary for peat formation to occur; and, more obviously, the turf-cutting removes part of the bog itself. If the drainage and the turf-cutting continue the bog will stop functioning as a bog, stop forming peat, and will ultimately disappear.

The ten-year derogation period for the 32 raised bog sites designated as special areas of conservation between 1997 and 1999 has now ended and no more turf cutting is permitted in these sites without the express consent of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. The derogation comes to an end for a further 24 SAC bog sites at the end of 2011 and on 75 NHA sites at the end of 2013. In total, these sites constitute less that 5% of Ireland's bogland where turf extraction is feasible. Turf-cutting can continue as before on more than 95% of Ireland's bogland.

The Government recognises that the end of the derogations will affect a number of land and turbary right owners, who normally source their fuel from these bogs, and is putting in place measures to address their needs. The shape of afinal scheme addressing their interests will be decided over the coming months but interim arrangements have been put in place.

The Minister, Deputy John Gormley, will provide interim funding to address the immediate needs of those who have been relying on these bogs to source their fuel. It is estimated that approximately 750 cutters will be affected this year out of the tens of thousands who still have access to turf banks. Those eligible can apply for a grant of €1,000 towards their fuel needs for the coming winter.

The Government has also announced that it will not, for the time being, accept new applications to the voluntary bog purchase scheme but confirmed that applications already received will be processed. In the coming days, the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government will be writing to people who may be affected this year by the end of the derogation. Details of the interim compensation scheme will be provided. At the same time, work is continuing to identify how best to address the long-term needs of those affected by the restrictions that are required on these sites. These include, but are not limited to, the provision of suitable turbary rights on undesignated bogs, where appropriate and available. The Minister, Deputy Gormley, and his Department will continue to engage with interested parties before any final decisions are taken in this regard.