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

I thank the Senator. The focus of the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and her Department is on the management, conservation and restoration of the SAC and NHA networks, which contain bog habitats. In this context, the National Raised Bogs Special Areas of Conservation Management Plan 2017-2022, which was approved by the Government and published in December 2017, sets out how the raised bog SACs are to be managed, conserved, and restored, and how the needs of domestic turf cutters are to be addressed through annual financial payments, relocation to non-designated bogs, and possible utilisation of the provisions of Article 6 of the habitats directive. The plan is similar for raised bog NHAs. The Wildlife (Amendment) Bill 2016 provides for the Minister to conduct and complete the 2014 review of raised bog NHAs, to carry out a review or reviews of the other existing NHAs at his or her discretion, and to amend or revoke NHA orders and to make new ones arising from the 2014 review or future reviews. I do not believe it is appropriate to provide for the reports within the Bill as requested by the Senators, or for the Minister to produce such reports. Therefore I will not be accepting the Senators' amendments.