Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. I am delighted he is here to answer the question because it relates to the mid-Shannon wilderness park, which I am sure he is familiar with. The issue is Bord na Móna promised that once it had finished removing peat, the bog would be handed back to the community. After spending generations harvesting peat, the local community decided it wanted a network of bogs that would be turned into a wilderness park. This was supported by the Longford senior planner in 2013. Mr. Pádraic Fogarty of the Irish Wildlife Trust has made a wonderful podcast on this issue, including the history of the plans for the wilderness park and the potential richness of its biodiversity. In the episode, he reviews the original plan for the wilderness park and describes what needs to happen.

In short, very little needs to be done on this site. A modest amount of intervention is sometimes needed to retain water in shallow lakes. Wilderness requires that we keep our hands off and let an ecological equilibrium that is in tune with the altered conditions establish itself. Left to their own devices, or rewilded, these cutaway bogs would generally flood once the pumps are switched off and, as the Minister of State knows, quickly revert to scenic areas with reeds and birch trees colonising them. In the process, we turn the bog from a carbon source to a carbon sink. We all know that if biodiversity is given the space it needs, it will flourish. The local community and economy would have a wonderful amenity they would be able to enjoy it, in addition to a tourism industry to sustain them.

The reason I raise this matter is the community was shocked to hear that Bord na Móna's plan for that site was to build a wind farm on it. While there is lots of misinformation about wind turbines killing birds, the types of birds that would use this particular site are cranes, white-tailed eagles and whooper swans. Wind farms would be a threat to them. Furthermore, when wind turbines are installed, the water must continue to be pumped, which results in net carbon emissions.

We know Bord na Móna withdrew its original application on this site. It was before a judicial review. I understand the reason Bord na Móna withdrew the application was it knew it was going to lose but, unfortunately, we now hear there is a strong possibility it will submit a new plan for a wind farm. It has been pumping water off the site throughout the winter, despite the high biodiversity value of the area. I recommend anybody to follow the Mid Shannon Wilderness Park social media account. One will see the place is a hive of activity when it comes to wildlife.

The crux of the question is that I urge the Minister of State to intervene now before the planning application is submitted to ensure the original proposal for the wilderness park goes ahead. The mid-Shannon park would go some way towards mitigating our climate and biodiversity crisis. Why is Bord na Móna pumping water off this site? I ask the Minister of State to directly intervene regarding that site and to support the community in its plans. As part of the just transition, it wants to see a wilderness park on this site. That is a win-win for everybody in terms of climate change, biodiversity and just transition. Why is Bord na Móna continuing to pump the land? Will the Minister of State intervene to ensure the mid-Shannon wilderness park, which is in the peatlands strategy, goes ahead?