Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Canny, for taking the time to be here for this debate. As he knows, substantial tracts of land have been destroyed by fire in County Sligo recently. I am sure that Deputy Connolly will outline what is happening in County Galway. Given the weather in recent weeks, some 4,000 acres in Sligo have been destroyed around Killery Mountain. I appreciate that the Government may well be considering some compensatory package to deal with the damage caused and the loss of income for local communities. One specific case in Sligo concerns the destruction of about 500 metres of the Sligo Way, which is a substantial 34 km walk from Dromahair in County Leitrim to Coolaney in County Sligo.

The Sligo Camino is a significant walking event which takes place in July every year with substantial numbers of people already booked to participate. In order for the event to go ahead, this 500 metre stretch of timber boardwalk need to be repaired urgently. Perhaps some funds could be diverted for this purpose from the minor works scheme which is normally used to repair coastal erosion and flood damage.

The affected area is relatively small and would not require a large amount of money to restore it. The Sligo Camino is of national standing in terms of the tourism it creates. The Coolaney Development Association, which organises the event each July, is offering volunteers and any help it can give to carry out this work. Some funds will be required, however.

I am asking officials from the Minister of State's Department to make contact with Sligo County Council's CEO, Mr. Ciarán Hayes, to get specific details of what is needed.

In the grand scheme of things it would not be very much at all. It is 500 metres of what is known as the Sligo Way. It threatens the Sligo Camino, which is to take place and for which up to 1,000 participants have already pre-booked. Notwithstanding a broader package of measure to deal with the tragedies that we have had in Galway, Sligo and in other counties, I ask the Minister of State to deal with this specifically.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Go raibh míle maith agat a Cheann Comhairle agus go raibh míle maith agat as ucht an ábhar seo a phiocadh. As I stand here raising this matter the fire service, the Army, the Air Corps, Coillte staff and local people are out on the ground trying to bring a raging forest fire under control. Already, more than 1,500 ha of forestry and 2,000 ha of bogland have been destroyed. I understand from the local media that is an area five times the size of the Phoenix Park. That is happening as I stand here. The forest fire is raging from the Oughterard side of Galway over to Inverin on the other side.

I raise this issue first to pay tribute to the staff on the ground, but also to ask the Minister of State what are his and his Department's plans in respect of this matter. I understand that the loss of productive timber and its replacement alone will be at a multi-million euro cost, not to mention the loss of wildlife, the damage to the environment, the serious threat to people's houses and livelihoods and so on. This fire is in the Cloosh Valley which is the biggest forest in Ireland as I understand it, covering more than 4,000 ha. That means that, already, 25% of the forest has been destroyed. These figures are difficult even for me to comprehend, but are even more difficult for the people on the ground where the fire is raging as we speak. I was on the Aran Islands on Monday with the Joint Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Islands, and we could see the smoke from there. I have a number of questions to which I will return after the Minister of State's response, but the first is how could this have happened? What fire assessment was carried out? What risk assessment was done? The biggest wind farm in Ireland is right in the middle of the forest. How was it allowed to go in there? When it was allowed to go in there, what assessments were carried out?

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | 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.

Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. Unfortunately I do not hear any good news in his response about funds being available. I ask the Government to look at a package of measures, particularly in Galway where there is a substantial amount of damage. I am talking specifically about an area in Sligo. The Minister of State himself mentioned that the Sligo Camino is on privately owned commonage. It is a public amenity. The private owners of whatever areas of commonage facilitate it. It would not cost a huge amount of money. I said in the wording of my Topical Issue that the minor works scheme might not be appropriate, and the Minister of State has said that it is not, but there are other funds there. It is not a huge amount of money. I appeal to him to speak to his colleagues to see if some few shillings can be found to rectify this situation because we are talking about tourism. Some 1,000 people from all over the country, and beyond, are coming to the area for this event, which will have to be cancelled. We are talking about 500 metres. Surely we can knock our heads together to come up with the small level of resources needed to deal with this matter, notwithstanding the need for a larger look at the whole issue, particularly in Sligo and Galway where there has been substantial damage and ultimately a loss to the State in terms of revenue.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

While I appreciate the Minister of State's attempt to give an answer I am shocked that in the five pages there is no mention of Galway.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

There is.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

This is an emergency. An emergency should be declared. I have pointed out the figures - between 1,000 and 1,500 ha of forestry alone are gone along with 2,000 ha of bogland. They have been burned. There is a serious threat to people's lives and, as has been outlined, to wildlife and habitats. At the very least I would have expected to have heard what the emergency response from the Department has been. Has the Minister of State or any Minister gone down to inspect the area and talk with the services on the ground? What interim report has come back? What are the Minister of State's long-term and intermediate plans? I would have expected that at the very least. This is a most serious fire. An area five times the size of the Phoenix Park has been destroyed, and there is nothing in the five pages about Galway.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

First, I did mention Galway in my response. The kernel of Deputy MacSharry's issue is funding to replace a small section of the Sligo Camino. As that was installed by the local authority with Leader funding, if the local authority looks at it, appraises it and sees what the costs involved would be, it can submit those to the Government and we will see what we can do. I am saying, honestly, that money used for flooding cannot be taken and put into something else. That cannot be done.

It is ironic that we have responsibility for flood relief and here we have a drought and fires. In China, the relevant minister is responsible for floods and drought.

Going back to the question raised by Deputy Connolly, emergency response is dealt with by the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment. The reason I am answering the question is because the Deputy was looking for funding from minor works flooding to deal with it. I will bring her concerns back to Government regarding what can be done. All the emergency services are out there. All of the emergency response units are there dealing with it and people are being told to keep back from the fires. All of the warnings have been issued. The satellite pictures show how many fires are happening at the moment. It is incredible that the fine weather we have had and the wind have created a huge number of issues. There is more than one Department involved in this - including the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and others - so there must be a whole-of-Government response to it. Right now, the emergency services are dealing with the issue and are trying to bring the fires under control.

The Deputy asked who started the fires. We do not yet know who did so. Hopefully, the cause of the fires will be found but the most important thing right now is to get them under control and ensure they are put out. We are working on doing so.