Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 61: To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the step he will take to minimise the impact of the ban on turf cutting on individuals and families; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29502/11]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 294: To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the extent to which an amicable settlement has been found with traditional turfcutters who are affected by various EU and other conservation measures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30141/11]

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 61 and 294 together.

Further to Ireland's obligations under EU law to protect rare and threatened natural habitats, it is clear that further turf-cutting and conservation of Ireland's 53 raised bog Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) is incompatible. Earlier this year, the Government announced a compensation package for those affected by the cessation of turf cutting in these 53 raised bog SACs. The package offers qualifying turf-cutters the option of a financial payment of €1,000 per year index linked, for a period of 15 years or, where feasible, their relocation to a non-designated bog, where they can continue to cut turf.

In April, the independently chaired Peatlands Council was established, comprising representatives of turf-cutting interest groups, environmental groups, Bord na Móna and my Department. The remit of the Council includes an opportunity to review the compensation arrangements, to make proposals and to provide advice to me. As part of its contribution, one of the turf-cutting representative groups, the IFA, proposed that the State would provide a delivery of turf to those who must stop turf-cutting as an alternative to a financial payment. My Department is now making arrangements to include this as an element of the compensation arrangements. The Council has also proposed an approach that would focus on the long-term energy requirements of affected turf-cutters and this proposal is also being explored.

In terms of relocation, following lengthy discussions between affected turf-cutters, Bord na Móna and my Department, agreement has been reached on the terms and conditions for relocation from the first of the 53 raised bogs to an alternative undesignated bog, where the turf-cutters involved will be cutting in 2012. This relocation can now be used as a template for other groups who wish to continue cutting on alternative bogs.

The Peatlands Council has shown that it can be a vehicle to deliver results and a credible forum where the interests of turf-cutters can be represented and accommodated. While one group - the Turf-Cutters and Contractors Association (TCCA) - has withdrawn from the Peatlands Council, it had been working, with the assistance of my Department, to explore relocation sites for the 53 SACs. I would still welcome any proposals which the TCCA wish to propose to the Peatlands Council and my Department in this regard.

It is also intended that the Peatlands Council will be the vehicle for the drawing up of a Peatlands Strategy, which my Department is undertaking, and where longer-term issues regarding the future use of Ireland's peatlands will be set out. Interested parties can make their views known by writing directly to the Peatlands Council or by having their views directed to it through one of the representative groups sitting on the Council.