Frank Feighan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House this morning. I am pleased to have the opportunity to highlight what is an extremely important issue for many rural communities. No one has ever denied that the turf cutting ban has been very difficult for all concerned. Despite this, I and many other stakeholders were determined, at the beginning of the term of the last Government, to work long and hard to address in a meaningful way the challenges posed by the EU Habitats Directive for turf cutting communities, especially in the special areas of conservation, SACs.

I was one of the first politicians to travel to Brussels to meet the relevant EU Commissioner in order to highlight the impact of the turf cutting ban on those affected. I went there with Mr. Conor Skehan, Deputies Paul Connaughton and Martin Heydon and Councillor Jimmy McClearn from Galway to meet the Commissioner, Mr. Janez Potoènik. We told him that a new Government had just been formed and that the situation regarding the Habitats Directive was very serious. Mr. Skehan pointed out that there had been a ten-year derogation and that all we wanted was another six months. We were absolutely shocked when Mr. Potoènik and his officials said, "What derogation?". The Fianna Fáil Government had decided that this issue was so explosive that they would tell the people that there was a derogation and they could continue to cut turf. At the same time, solicitors' letters were coming from Europe. We were absolutely shocked. Indeed, Deputy Ó Cuív admitted in the Dáil a few months later that Fianna Fáil thought there was a derogation but then found out that there was not. It was a shameful way to deal with one of the most important issues in rural Ireland at the time.

I am glad that the Government of which I was a member dealt with the issue. As part of my campaign on behalf of rural communities, I called for an independent commission and was very glad that this call was heard and a mediation process, in the form of the Peatlands Council, was established. I believe the council and the setting up of the peatlands forum allowed the genuine views and concerns of the turf cutting communities to be taken on board in a formal manner. All of this ultimately led to the setting up of a compensation and relocation scheme for turf cutters affected by the Habitats Directive. One of my primary objectives throughout the whole process was to make sure that those affected would be financially recompensed and thankfully that happened.

In my own region, I fought for and helped to deliver compensation for more than 1,000 turf cutting families. That equates to a sum of €23,000, tax free, to each turf cutter over a 15 year period. That is a huge amount of money for people in Roscommon, east Galway and other areas. There are other counties that do not have SACs and they wish they were part of this compensation scheme. I understand that this issue has been considered for more than four years. It is also important to remember that the concerns of turf cutters wishing to relocate to other bogs were duly recognised by the Department. These turf cutters received a one-off payment of €500 and are also entitled to receive 15 tonnes of turf each year until the relocation bog is ready.

Today I would like to take the opportunity to ask the Minister for an up to date appraisal of the turf cutters' compensation scheme and the related bog relocation scheme. The latter is more complex, as everyone will acknowledge. These schemes have recognised the genuine concerns of the affected communities who have been carrying on the turf cutting tradition for generations. To conclude, I would like to pay tribute to all the stakeholders, particularly the turf cutting community which understood that the last Government was forced to deal with a very difficult legacy issue but came up with practical solutions for those affected.