Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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109. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the peat restoration projects his Department or its agencies have supported; the estimated capital and recurring costs of the work; the proportion funded from public funds; and the projected gains in carbon abatement and biodiversity. [29504/24]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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My Department is currently supporting the Enhanced Decommissioning Rehabilitation and Restoration Scheme (EDRRS) (also referred to as the Peatlands Climate Action Scheme), where rehabilitation of peatlands is currently being undertaken by Bord na Móna. This scheme is part of Ireland’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan and is funded by the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility up to the value of €108 million via the Climate Action Fund of which €2 million is capital expenditure. This project relates to the enhanced rehabilitation of circa 33,000 hectares of Bord na Móna peatlands across 82 bogs previously used for energy production over several decades.

It is estimated that EDRRS will result in the net reduction of 3.3 MtCO₂ eq. over the period to 2050 through the implementation of enhanced rehabilitation measures and rewetting. The figures are indicative at this stage. A programme of carbon monitoring is part of EDRRS and, as results become available, these figures will be reviewed and updated.

Rehabilitation will enrich the State’s natural capital, increasing ecosystem services; strengthen biodiversity; improve water quality and storage attenuation; develop the amenity potential of the peatlands, as well as providing employment opportunities as part of a Just Transition in the Midlands. Rehabilitation to date has already contributed to biodiversity restoration with the return and growth of certain wildlife species such as Eurasian Cranes.

Within the peatland to be rehabilitated under EDRRS, 8,000 hectares of deep peat is ringfenced for additional enhanced regeneration as part of an EU LIFE project. This Peatlands and People project will carryout novel sphagnum moss inoculation and other associated measures.

Information on the progress of EDRRS, including carbon and biodiversity monitoring, is available through the publication of Annual Reports and Annual Monitoring and Verification Reports on

In addition to EDRRS, the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), under the Minister of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, also supports peat restoration through a number of programmes.

The Raised Bog Restoration Programme is an accelerated programme of restoration on protected raised bog Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and Natural Heritage Areas. Restoration has been completed on 5,000 hectares of protected raised bogs since 2018, with preparatory actions underway across a further suite of protected raised bog sites. Since 2020, €5m from the carbon tax fund has been allocated to the NPWS raised bog restoration programme each year, and in 2024 this funding has been supplemented by a further €500k in exchequer funding.

The NPWS supports a range of other peatland conservation initiatives including EU LIFE and INTERREG projects. The €5 million EU LIFE project ‘The Living Bog’, which concluded in 2022, completed the restoration of more than 2,650 hectares on 12 sites across seven counties, with an exchequer funding contribution of €1.35m.

Wild Atlantic Nature LIFE Integrated Project is a nine-year peatland restoration project (2021-2029) led by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. It is a €21 million project, with €8 million coming from the NPWS, and the balance form the EU. It aims to improve the conservation status in the SAC blanket bog, a priority habitat under the Habitats Directive. The primary focus is on 35 Natura 2000 sites in the northwest of Ireland. The project works with farmers and local communities to conserve and improve the quality of blanket bogs and associated habitats, and the ecosystem services they provide, including clean water, carbon storage and biodiversity.

The NPWS has an ecohydrological and greenhouse-gas monitoring network in place on key peatland sites across Ireland. The data from this network, other networks such as the EDRRS and university-led projects, will be used to calculate gains in carbon abatement from peatland restoration. Biodiversity gains are measured by ecological mapping, field surveys, and increasingly, remote sensing methods, and will be reported in Ireland’s next Habitats Directive Reporting period in 2025.