I welcome this section because I received briefings on the environmental and, particularly, the archaeological aspects of the Bill. There is a concern about the large area of bogland under the control of Bord na Móna. It has about 85,000 hectares, which is about the size of County Carlow, and less than 25 per cent has been examined. It is estimated that a total of over 10,000 sites of significance may be identified under the areas fully surveyed. Because it is reducing the surface of a bog by ten to 20 centimetres, new archaeological areas can be lost. These archaeological sites are important and the majority are wooden constructions intended to provide access to or a passage across a bog. They vary in size and range from early Neolithic through to the later medieval period to the present. Enigmatic sites deserve particular inquiry.
I do not wish to make a Second Stage speech nor would it be possible, but the special nature of the bogs and their preservative qualities is something we share with Denmark, for example, and Séamus Heaney has written a series of poems about the bog people. We have learned a great deal about our human and archaeological history and it is important they are preserved.
Today I received a briefing message from Professor Raftery of the Department of Archaeology in UCD. He said the Turf Development Bill, if passed, will allow for a series of mitigating measures to be established by the National Monuments Service and Bord na Móna and that it is only in this way we can then hope to gain an understanding of this significant part of our landscape and heritage before it is destroyed. For that reason it is important we recognise there has been movement in this area under the Bill, as understood by Professor Raftery. On that basis, I particularly welcome this section because the bog is a diminishing resource in Europe. As I understand it — I must bow to the expert opinion of somebody such as Professor Raftery — the inclusion of this section is valuable and I congratulate the Minister on it.
