Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am happy to support amendment No. 1. My understanding is that blanket bogs were not part of the public consultation, which is the consultation that has brought us to this point and the proposed legislation. It undermines somewhat the process of the public consultation if we suddenly make seismic changes to the scope of the Bill with no consultation having been completed. As a result, I have no reflecting data on the need for an extension to blanket bogs. In comparison, we have 12 years of data and submissions that relate to raised bogs. Has the Government thought this through? Has it considered the environmental impact in the same way that it has done with raised bogs? It seems a little suspect that blanket bogs were not included in the Bill, as proposed, and now that they have been included in the Dáil the Government has reignited its interest in the legislation. As of now, I support amendment No. 1.