Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for my lateness. It is unfortunate that Committee Stage is being held over several weeks because it interrupts the flow of the discussion of the Bill. The issues raised by the Senator regarding de-designation were previously discussed. This section of the Bill seeks to address the changes made in terms of encouraging extra designation of State-owned lands and de-designation of some privately owned lands in order to accommodate the difficulties that have played out in the media over many years in regard to turf cutting.

On what we need to do to reduce turf cutting for private use and in the context of Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, house retrofitting schemes and so on, I would like to see a greater focus on homes that use turf. If they were targeted for insulation schemes and deep retrofitting, it would reduce the need for them to cut and burn turf. Of course, there is no point in doing that only for the plots then to be used to cut turf for someone else to burn. These are some of the issues in this area.

As I indicated previously, the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment brought in regulations to provide that large-scale peat extraction, that is, on areas of more than 30 ha, would be actively controlled by licensing under the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA. The Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government recently advised that the development of a new regulatory framework for smaller-scale peat extraction in respect of areas of less than 30 ha will be initiated and progressed in consultation with stakeholders. I will ask departmental officials to engage with the Department on the matter and the use of certain kinds of machinery in bogs. The Senator referred to the use of sausage machines in designated areas. However, it would not be appropriate to regulate commercial turf cutting through the Bill and I will not be accepting the Senator's amendments.