Vol. 535 No. 1
470 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage Gaeltacht and the Islands if her attention has been drawn to the Irish Peatland Conservation Council bogs and fens conservation plan; and if she is able to assist in its implementation through financial help or policy changes or enforcement. [11457/01]
My attention has been drawn to the Irish Peatland Conservation Council's proposal for a bogs and fens conservation plan which, I understand, is not as yet a completed document. The work of the IPCC is well known to me and I am pleased that my Department has been associated with their initiatives in the past, especially in relation to acquisition of bog habitat.
The proposed plan will certainly be fully considered within my Department and I hope that it will prove useful in informing policy development. However, I cannot at this stage give any undertaking to implement any particular proposals that I have not yet seen. It is not possible for my Department to fund studies on plans such as this other than where the Department directly commissions such studies.
