Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 23 January 2014
136. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the work being done to develop climate change mitigation policy applicable to his Department, and the public participation opportunities incorporated in that work. [3336/14]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, there are, of course, linkages between the challenges of climate change and the protection of biodiversity and these are reflected, where appropriate, in various policies in my Department - for example in the Government's National Biodiversity Plan. Given the key role peatlands play in the carbon cycle, Ireland's extensive peatlands are important as carbon sinks and as a source of greenhouse gas emissions. These issues, and their implications relating to climate change policy, have been considered in the recently published draft National Peatlands Strategy, which is available to view, along with related documents, at http://www.npws.ie/peatlandsturf-cutting/nationalraisedbogsacmanagementplan/.
The draft Strategy has been developed with the advice of the Peatlands Council, which has representation from land-owner, turf-cutter and environmental groups among its membership. The draft Strategy has issued for consultation and views are invited from the public before 18 April 2014.
