asked the Minister for Finance if he will make a statement on the action he proposes to take concerning the conservation of Irish bogland which has been the subject of an alarming increase in damage caused to sites during the past year and which if this rate of destruction continues, would lead to the almost total extinction of bogland in Ireland by 1995; and the measures he intends to take to prevent such a situation.
Written Answers. - Irish Bogland Conservation.
70.
My Department already owns 622 hectares of raised bog and almost 14,000 hectares of blanket bog and I have given statutory protection under the Wildlife Act, 1976 to 7,794 hectares of this amount. All of the boglands owned by my Department will be afforded statutory protection in due course. I have also protected by Order 119 hectares of raised bog in private ownership. It is my intention to seek to conserve a representative sample of both raised and blanket bogs as resources permit.
I can assure the Deputy that I am only too well aware of the importance of this matter.