Eamonn Coghlan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. Having been appointed as Fine Gael spokesperson on arts and heritage I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak today.

The debate on turf cutting has been ongoing for the past 21 years and there has been a significant level of debate in recent years. As party spokesperson I have identified the chronology of events. The closest I got to bogs was running around the Bog of Allen when I was doing cross-country races as a young man.

Some 21 years ago the members of the EU signed the habitats directive, whereby areas identified to be of scientific and environmental importance were designated as special areas of conservation, SACs. Five years later, Ireland proposed 31 sites of raised bogs for designation as SACs. The choice of the sites for selection as SACs arose from an extensive survey of habitats and the application of the scientific criteria specified in Annexe 3 to the directive. The then Government announced a ten-year derogation from the implementation of the SAC designations. However, over this time, very little was done to prepare for the ending of turf cutting in these bogs. In the ten years following the signing of the habitats directive, the biogeographic seminar for the Atlantic region reported that Ireland had proposed an insufficient proportion of its raised bog habitat to be included within the SAC network. To meet its obligation under the directive, Ireland was required to increase the number of sites proposed for designation. The total number of raised bogs designated as SACs increased to 53. This is only 2% of the peatlands from which peat can be extracted. Notices were placed in local media and almost 5,000 individuals were notified directly about the designation of raised bogs as special areas of conservation and given an opportunity to appeal that designation.

In May 2010, the then Cabinet formally agreed that turf cutting would come to an end on these bogs and also on 75 national heritage areas. In spite of this, turf cutting has continued. The following year in 2011, the European Commission had run out of patience and Ireland had run out of time. In January 2011, a letter was sent to the then Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Micheál Martin, warning that Ireland faced action before the European Court of Justice for failure to protect these SAC bogs. This action could result in a lump sum fine of up to €9 million and daily fines of up to €25,000.

In March 2011, the current Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Deenihan, was presented with the complete file on this matter. From that point onwards, the Minister's priority has been to ensure that bogs protected by the law are preserved and at the same time working with those turf cutters who have been affected by these designations. Last year the Minister established the Peatlands Council, bringing all parties together, the IFA, Bord na Móna, the Turf Cutters and Contractors Association, TCCA, and representatives from rural and environmental groups. All have seats on the Peatlands Council. Parties, including the TCCA, had signed an agreement confirming that turf cutting would come to an end on these bogs. I understand this agreement has not been kept.

In September 2011, the TCCA walked away from the Peatlands Council and I understand there is still a place at the table should the representative chose to return. The Minister has also introduced a compensation scheme that offers financial compensation, the delivery of turf to homes and relocation to another bog. To date, the scheme has paid out approximately €6 million to affected turf cutters. In February of last year, the Minister asked Mr. Justice John Quirke to chair a peatlands forum, in which representatives from all the SACs were presented. This resulted in the Quirke report. In March 2012, the Dáil unanimously agreed a motion in the House calling on the Government, as already quoted, to engage actively with the European Commission to seek a resolution within the terms of the habitats directive and to prepare and submit a national raised bogs restoration plan to the Commission as a matter of urgency.

In early April 2012 the Minister did that and received an agreement from the European Commission to have this plan drawn up. A team of consultants was appointed the following year and this team is working on the review of Ireland's natural heritage areas bogs, committed to in the 2011 programme for Government. Today, in 2013 the situation is as follows: the majority of the affected turf cutters have joined the compensation scheme with almost 2,000 applications received by the Department; approximately €6 million has been paid out in compensation; and the majority of the turf cutters are therefore working with the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in resolving this long-standing issue. A national plan as called for in the unanimous motion in the Dáil is being worked on right now as is the review of the national heritage areas that we agreed in the programme for Government. Unlike the previous Government, I am afraid there is a clear strategy in place for the protection of these bogs and to address the needs of turf cutters. That is the only way forward.

The special areas of conservation, SACs, were introduced more than 20 years ago. They are protected by national and European law and damage to these sites is against the law. The issue has attracted significant attention not just across Europe but around the world. These are unique sites from a heritage and environmental standpoint and Ireland is committed to preserving them. There is an onus on the country to implement the laws that we agreed to as a country. Resolving this was never going to be quick or easy. The Minister's approach is to uphold the law, preserve the bogs and provide compensation and relocation to the turf cutters who have been affected. The Minister has done this. Progress is being made. All parties should engage in the structures that have been put in place for dialogue. Co-operation is the best way forward.

This issue must be resolved in order that the sites still capable of natural regeneration can be repaired and where, with appropriate rehabilitation management, there is a reasonable expectation of re-establishing vegetation such as heathers, bog cotton species and so on, as well as peat-forming capability. The law must be applied but the affected turf cutters also must be dealt with fairly. If there are fines to be imposed from the European Union, the taxpayers cannot be expected to foot the bill yet again. Everyone must work this out within the law in order that the raised bog sites will be there for the future of generations to come.