Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, and wish him well in his new portfolio. I look forward to working with him. This is the second opportunity I have had in this House to raise the issue of the bog slide on Shass Mountain in Drumkeeran in County Leitrim. I raised it with the Tánaiste last week, when he told me that in situations like this, where this is a disaster, the Government will normally step in to offer support. This is surely a disaster and it has now become an emergency. Many people who live in the area are asking where the support from Government is because they have not seen or heard anything in that regard. I have visited the site twice, the second occasion being last Friday evening when I went there with my colleague, Deputy Fitzmaurice. We visited the point on the mountain where islands of trees were emerging from the forestry and sliding down the side of the mountain. It was incredible to see it.

It is difficult to estimate the numbers but we are looking at the movement of some 300,000 or 400,000 cu. m of peat and bog. The bog slide continues down the mountain for several miles and stops within 200 m of two family homes and not 50 m from the Diffagher river which then goes on to flow into Lough Allen. Several homes are in danger and one house already has about 9 in. of bog at its back door. Vast swathes of land are being completely destroyed. The only thing holding back half the mountainside is the Dawn of Hope Bridge which was built in the late 1800s. It is absolutely astonishing that this bridge is still standing and holding back thousands of tonnes of trees and bog. We are facing an emergency and there are real fears that the bridge will not hold. Urgent action must be taken to reinforce it and try to stabilise the bog slide. That is the immediate need. People in the area, especially those whose homes are in danger and those whose land is being destroyed, need to know, nine days after the situation emerged, that they have not been forgotten.

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I wish the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, well in his new role. I visited the site in Drumkeeran with Deputy Harkin and observed the damage she has described. I want to make clear that no turf has been cut on this steep blanket bog. The damage we are seeing has happened followed incessant rain and action must be taken to address it. I spoke earlier today to the CEO of Leitrim County Council, Lar Power, who has RPS Consulting Engineers doing up a report on the situation on Shass Mountain. If the bridge to which Deputy Harkin referred collapses, there will be serious problems.

The Office of Public Works needs to get involved without delay and funds must be given to the county council to ensure it can cater for the works that need doing. A working group must be put together as soon as possible to deal with this emergency. Farmers in the area have put in for the basic payment scheme, the areas of natural constraint scheme and the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme. The bog is sliding down the steep mountain and spreading out and destroying their land. These are small family farms whose owners are working in the difficult conditions that naturally arise in bogland areas. They deserve help in this emergency.

We need the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, the OPW, the council and the fisheries and farming bodies to come together and work to put a fund in place. The Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine needs to reach out in the first instance. This problem will not be cleaned up overnight and it will not be solved tomorrow. The Department needs to offer reassurance in respect of any inspections undertaken over the next four to five years for the areas of natural constraint scheme, the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme and other environmental schemes. That is the first thing that needs to be sorted. The roads in the area will also need rectifying.

Deputy Harkin and I spoke last week to an elderly woman and some of the other lovely, salt-of-the-earth people who live in this area. They are frightened that if the bridge at the top of the mountain collapses, nothing will stop the bog from coming down. Local knowledge suggests that there was a lake that disappeared years ago located where the trees have started moving. There are large volumes of material that need sorting out, but the only thing that will really sort this problem out is a proper plan and the money to implement it. Will the Minister of State ensure the different bodies get together to work out a plan? There is no point in scratching our heads for a month until more rain comes and the bridge at the top of the mountain collapses. We will be in trouble then because there are several houses at risk.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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I thank Deputies Harkin and Fitzmaurice for their good wishes and for bringing this matter to my attention. I can give a response from the perspective of my Department and the agency within my remit, which is the National Parks and Wildlife Service. As Deputy Fitzmaurice noted, however, there are several agencies involved.

The legislation underpinning the protection and conservation of nature includes the Wildlife Acts 1976 to 2018 and the European Communities (Birds and Natural Habitats) Regulations 2011. Natural heritage areas have been designated under the Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2000. The EU's bird directive and habitats directive provide for the protection of certain habitats and species across the Union, giving a framework for specific measures to be taken to target areas of concern in each member state. In essence, the 2011 regulations transpose these directives into national law and provide for the nomination and designation of special protection areas, SPAs, aimed at the protection of threatened species of birds, and special areas of conservation, SACs, aimed at protecting other animal species and habitats.

Ireland is an EU stronghold for blanket bogs, which provide essential ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration and water regulation, as well as harbouring many important plant and animal species. Under the habitats directive, Ireland has identified 50 special areas of conservation for the protection of blanket bog and there are 73 blanket bog national heritage areas. These SACs include lowland and mountain blanket bogs, predominantly along the western Atlantic seaboard, but also widely distributed on upland areas. Many of the SAC sites identified for the protection of blanket bogs are extensive and include complexes of other habitats such as dry heath, transition mire, acid grasslands, rivers and streams. Protected species found there include dunlin, golden plover, whooper swan, red deer, otter and freshwater pearl mussel. Blanket bogs, together with other peatlands, have formed in the Irish landscape since the last ice age and, together with remnants of primeval forests, are some of our oldest surviving ecosystems.

In November 2019, the National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department was awarded €12.4 million in funding under the EU LIFE programme for an EU LIFE integrated project entitled Life Wild Atlantic Nature which aims to protect and restore blanket bog and associated habitats. The project seeks to improve the conservation status in the special area of conservation network of blanket bog. The project start-up has been delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic, but is scheduled to take place over nine years and will be undertaken with the consultation and involvement of local landowners and communities.

Boleybrack mountain was nominated for designation as an SAC in June 2003 and is afforded protection under the 2011 regulations. It comprises an extensive upland plateau situated to the north of Lough Allen in County Leitrim and is dominated by active mountain blanket bog and wet heath.

I was very concerned to hear about the bog slide affecting the community in Drumkeeran, County Leitrim. The site at Shass Mountain is in Boleybrack Mountain special area of conservation. Officers from the National Parks and Wildlife Service have been to the site to investigate the extent of damage to the SAC. Initial findings indicate that the bog slide originated within the southern section of Boleybrack Mountain SAC, along the southern flank of the forestry plantation. The land where the slide originated is now very unstable and further slippages may occur.

The volume of peat loss appears substantial, given the amount of land affected downstream. A significant amount of peat from within the SAC has slid into the headwaters of a stream which is a tributary of the Diffagher river which enters Lough Allen. The peat material has been carried up to 5 km and deposited within the flood plain along the distance. A drone survey or equivalent may be needed to fully assess the scale of the damage.

I understand that Leitrim County Council is currently the lead agency dealing with the incident. The Office of Public Works is in contact with engineers in the council and providing advice as required. In addition, the forestry inspectorate of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Coillte have been on site since the event and have examined it in detail.

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I know he has his own portfolio. He referred to the birds directive and the habitats directive. I am very familiar with both directives but the species under threat in the context of this disaster that is heading into an emergency are the people who live in the area and those whose lands have been destroyed. I hear what the Minister of State is saying regarding having people on the ground looking at the situation and assessing it, but I speak to people from Drumkeeran every day and they have heard nothing. They know that people are looking at the situation, etc., but they want to see action. They want to know that their homes and lands are protected.

The focus may be on protecting the habitat. If we do not do something to stabilise what is happening in the area, the habitat will be destroyed as well. People need to know that they are the primary focus. The Minister of State knows as well as I do that if that is not made clear, they will start to see the habitats directive and similar legislation in a negative context. It is not negative legislation and was never meant to be such, but people must come first.

We need support to be provided to Leitrim County Council. As my colleague, Deputy Fitzmaurice, stated, we need some sort of task force to be set up to ensure people can have faith that the institutions of the State will help them when a disaster occurs.

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I mean no disrespect to the Minister of State, but we were expecting this matter to be dealt with by the Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW. I understand that the mountain is a designated special area of conservation, but there is a decision to be made. Are we going to sit and watch a bridge collapse - in fairness, bridges are neither the portfolio nor the responsibility of the Minister of State - if there is further rain and possibly more bog coming down the mountain with it? Are we going to stand by while, in the words of Deputy Harkin, the species known as people lose their lives? Rapid action needs to be taken on this issue.

Anyone listening to these proceedings who is familiar with the situation knows that the designation and the habitats directive and all that has damn all to do with this issue. This problem involves part of a bog sliding down a mountain onto people's land and around houses. People are frightened and roads have been destroyed. A large section of the bog could come down if the bridge in question, which was built hundreds of years ago - in fairness, it has held out mightily - fails. If it goes, we will be in trouble. Regardless of when the site was designated or whatever else was done with it, we must not have people with pieces of paper stating that an environmental impact assessment or another appropriate assessment is needed. This is an emergency for the people of the area and we need to begin working on it rapidly. A working group needs to be put together immediately to find solutions for the people of the area.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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The commitments in the programme for Government demonstrate that the Government will be active in protecting our natural heritage and responding to the biodiversity emergency and drivers of loss. Investing in the restoration of ecosystems will have multiple additional benefits, including water regulation and purification and carbon sequestration. Sustainable land use management must be a key component of our work. The NPWS and the Department will continue to lead on this work.

I am aware of the great concern locally and nationally with regard to the bog slide. The NPWS and the Department will work with the other bodies to which I referred and continue to investigate and deal with the incident. The matter falls within the remit of my Department, but I am happy to work with Deputies Harkin and Fitzmaurice to establish a working group if that proves necessary. I am more than happy to visit the site and will keep the issue high on the Government agenda in order to seek a resolution. I will set up a working group if it is needed.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I am conscious that the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, is in the Chamber to deal with the Topical Issue Matter tabled by Deputy Ó Snodaigh, but he is not present and, as such, we will not deal with it today.