I propose to take Questions Nos. 120 and 122 together.
As the Deputy will be aware, the draft National Raised Bog SAC Management Plan and the Review of the Raised Bog Natural Heritage Area Network were published earlier this year for consultation. Almost 1,500 submissions have been received and these are being examined at present.
To enable the draft national SAC plan to be finalised, site specific management plans are being prepared for each of the SACs. These will determine, for example, whether or not there is a case to be made under Article 6.3 of the EU Habitats Directive for continued cutting on the site in question, where such cutting can be shown not to damage the protected habitat, and what approach will be taken to site restoration.
In addition, my Department, in partnership with Bord na Móna, has been working to identify alternative bogs, close to the SACs, to which turf-cutters could be relocated. Potential relocation sites have been identified for all SACs on which there are active cutters and these are now at various stages of further analysis or acquisition. Such a site has been identified close to be SAC referred to by the Deputy and has been found to be suitable for turf-extraction. If, following in-depth examination, it emerges that there are no viable relocation sites for turf-cutters from a particular SAC, there is potential to examine whether the provisions of Article 6.4 of the EU Habitats Directive could be applied. This process is described further in the draft plan.
With regard to the Review of the Raised Bog Natural Heritage Area Network, I hope to be in a position to propose new sites for designation later this year, which will compensate for the loss of those complete or partial NHA sites which are moving towards de-designation. These changes were proposed to improve the conservation value of the NHA network, while avoiding, to the extent possible, impacts on active turf-cutters.
