Tom Clonan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I have been asked on behalf of my colleagues, Senators Ruane and Higgins, to move several amendments for them. Regarding Dáil amendment No. 3c to this legislation, the rationale for the Senators' proposed amendments to this amendment is as follows: this grouping of amendments relates to an issue that my colleague Senator Higgins raised extensively when this legislation was last before the Seanad in 2019.

We are concerned that "national, regional and local economic, social and cultural needs" and "facilities and projects", which can be of significant benefit to communities, are undefined and could refer to things such as golf courses or car parks. There is also concern regarding paragraph 4 which also lists "projects which relate to strategic infrastructure development, within the meaning of the Planning and Development Act 2000". Data centres, for example, are regarded as strategic infrastructure, along with many other things. It should not be the case that habitats are allowed to be de-designated for such projects.

To add some context in respect of why we need to protect our bogs, peatlands are the largest natural terrestrial carbon store in the world. The area covered by near-natural peatlands worldwide is in excess of 3 million sq. km and it sequesters 0.37 gigatons of carbon dioxide each year. It stores more carbon than all other vegetation types in the world combined. Emissions from drained peatlands are estimated at 1.9 gigatons of carbon dioxide annually. This is equivalent to 5% of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. This is a disproportionate amount considering that damaged peatlands cover just 0.3% of landmasses. Fires in Indonesian peat swamp forests in 2015, for example, emitted nearly 16 million tonnes of carbon dioxide daily, which is more than the entire economy of the US.

Worldwide, the remaining area of near-natural peatland, over 3 million sq. km., sequesters 0.37 gigatons of carbon dioxide annually. Peat soils contain more than 600 gigatons of carbon, which represents up to 44% of all soil carbon and exceeds the carbon stored in all other vegetation types, including all the world's forests. A group of Ireland's top peatland experts got together in 2019 and calculated that up to 15% of global emissions could be saved by restoring our peatlands. These are also vitally important in terms of our biodiversity. The designation and de-designation process that the Bill proposes is not fit for purpose and the idea that we would allow such criteria, which is not based on science, when our world is literally on fire, is absurd. The amendments proposed here to this amendment provide several options to strengthen this legislation.

Amendment No. 1 to Dáil amendment No. 3c would insert a new paragraph (d) which would provide that in the designation process the Minister would have regard to "all of the matters to which the Minister is required to have regard to under section 16(6), "the list of proposed natural heritage areas", "the need to protect bog habitats both for biodiversity and carbon sequestration" and "the need to adequately implement Article 10" of the habitats directive.

Amendment No. 2 to Dáil amendment No. 3c would simply delete clauses (II), (III) and (IV) of paragraph (d)(i) as things to have regard to when making a designation.

Amendment No. 3 to Dáil amendment No. 3c would delete paragraph (d)(i)(III).

Amendment No. 4 to Dáil amendment No. 3c would amend paragraph (d)(i)(III) to specify that the Minister could only have regard to facilities and projects which can be of significant benefit to a community when they are "environmental" facilities.

Amendment No. 5 to Dáil amendment No. 3c is related and adds the caveat that it would be environmental "projects".

Amendment No. 6 to Dáil amendment No. 3c is an alternative to amendments Nos. 4 and 5 to Dáil amendment No. 3c and would add a caveat in paragraph (d)(i)(III) that facilities and projects described must be those "having a primary objective of environmental conservation, restoration or protection".

Amendment No. 7 to Dáil amendment No. 3c would stipulate that projects and facilities described in paragraph (d)(i)(III) would not include "football pitches, golf courses, hotels or car parks" as part of the consideration of whether to designate.

Amendment No. 8 to Dáil amendment No. 3c is an alternative to amendment No. 6 with slightly different wording.

Amendment No. 9 to Dáil amendment No. 3c seeks to amend paragraph (d)(i)(III) adding the caveat that the Minister must have regard to national, regional and local economic, social and cultural needs where these "have an associated clear benefit accruing to the wider public".

Amendment No. 10 to Dáil amendment No. 3c seeks to delete paragraph (d)(ii)(IV) which has the same dangerous and unclear language as paragraph (d)(i)(III).

Amendments Nos. 11, 12 and 13 to Dáil amendment No. 3c would insert the same provisions as amendments Nos. 4 to 7, inclusive, into paragraph (d)(ii)(IV).

We have given the Minister of State several ways in which to address our concerns and we urge him to accept some of our amendments to alleviate some of our significant doubts about how the designation and de-designation process will work under the legislation. Environmental groups, including the Irish Wildlife Trust, have been sounding the alarm for years on problematic parts of this legislation and we need to see the Minister of State engaging with us and making serious changes.