Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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389. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the reason that the pilot project relating to the management of blanket bogs has been transferred from Connemara, County Galway to County Wicklow; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15029/16]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The national peatlands strategy makes it clear that greater clarity must be brought to the process of how turf cutting on blanket bog special areas of conservation is to be managed in compliance with the requirements of the EU Habitats Directive and the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive. The aim is to have in place a workable system for the management of turf cutting on these sites. The most appropriate type of system will emerge through a scientific study, which will also involve a process of stakeholder consultation.

In 2015, a pilot survey commenced of representative areas in blanket bog special areas of conservation in order to test methodologies and techniques of mapping and assessment of the impacts of turf cutting on blanket bog and associated habitats and species. Several study sites were chosen for the pilot survey in order to encompass a wide geographic range including uplands, lowlands, eastern and western examples. The study sites were small areas located in the following special areas of conservation: Owenduff/Nephin Bog Complex, Connemara Bog Complex, Wicklow Mountains, Glenveagh National Park and Cloghernagore Bog.

The study sites in these special areas of conservation have been surveyed as intended.