Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 22 October 2014
10. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will provide an update on relocation sites here; the way she proposes to resolve the debacle that is going on for 17 years regarding the 53 so-called special areas of conservation complexes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40149/14]
View answerWill the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht provide an accurate update on relocation in respect of turf cutting? The Minister knows that I make the assertion that no issue in respect of turf cutting and relocation has been resolved in 17 years. The Minister is not long in her new job and I wish her luck, but I do not want the same stuff as I have listened to down through the years about this, that and the other issue solved, when what matters is that the issue has not been solved. The Minister referred to figures of 1,300 people who have signed up and the figure of 6,000 relates to a period of four years. The figure of 1,300 people is out of a total of 9,000 people. Will the Minister please give me an accurate update because I do not want to hear what the Department has always given me down through the years?
I congratulate Deputy Fitzmaurice on his recent election to Dáil Éireann. It is always a great honour to represent the people of one's county and constituency. I was very pleased to note that the morning before he came to the Dáil, he had time to feed his cattle. I wish him well in his new position.
Since this Government has come into office, major efforts have been made to solve the issue of the protection of Ireland's raised bog special areas of conservation within the framework of the EU habitats directive. This has included intense engagement with turf cutting interests, farmers, non-governmental organisations and with the European Commission. A long-term compensation scheme was introduced to compensate cutters for their loss.
The draft national raised bog SAC management plan was published in January. It sets out how the raised bog special areas of conservation are to be managed in the future and how the needs of turf cutters are to be addressed. The draft plan sets out the demanding tests which must be met before turf cutting can be consented to within the provisions of the directive. The final plan will clarify whether the relevant provisions of the directive can be applicable to any particular special area of conservation and will seek to establish whether sufficient consensus can be achieved at a national level to make a successful case to the European Commission for flexibility in accordance with Article 6(4) of the directive.
This national raised bog SAC management plan responds to the central recommendation of Mr. Justice Quirke arising out of the 2012 peatlands forum. Notwithstanding the complexity involved, progress in relocating turf cutters to non-designated bogs is being achieved in a number of cases, and arrangements have been made for Clara bog in County Offaly, where 25 qualifying turf cutters have been accommodated on Killeranny bog, and Carrownagappul bog and Curraghlehanagh bog in County Galway, where 23 qualifying turf cutters have been accommodated on the Islands bog and Killasolan bog. Works have been undertaken on Lemanaghan bog in County Offaly with a view to facilitating turf cutters from Moyclare bog. Works are also under way in Cloonabricka bog in County Galway to facilitate additional cutters relocating from Carrownagappul and Curraghlehanagh bogs. Potential relocation sites have been identified for each of the remaining raised bog special areas of conservation where relocation may be required. When relocation sites have been assessed as suitable, my Department has been seeking expressions of interest from turf cutters with a view to them moving to these sites.
As pointed out on many occasions, this is a very complex issue with each site having its own challenges. Final resolution will only be achieved by everyone working - within the law - with my Department and with the Peatlands Council which was established with the purpose of ensuring input from all stakeholders.
It is a dismal record that after 17 years under various Governments, 48 people of the 9,000 cutting turf in these bogs have been accommodated by the Department. This is the Department's achievement. Governments love to look at parts of what Mr. Justice Quirke stated in his report. He stated new faces were needed, as was a new way of resolving matters. There are no new faces. I do not blame the Minister.
The Deputy's time is up.
I blame the National Parks and Wildlife Service which, for the past 17 years, has given bad information to Ministers and tried to terrorise the people of rural Ireland.
I will let the Deputy back in.
The Government has put in place more resources and greater effort to resolve the issue of protecting Ireland's raised bog special areas of conservation than any Government which went before. This includes the establishment of a substantial compensation scheme of which the vast majority of active cutters have availed. More than €10 million has been paid out by the Government. The Peatlands Council was established to facilitate the views of all stakeholders, and we have a comprehensive policy framework, including a draft national peatlands strategy and a draft national raised bog SAC management plan. Once finalised, these will give certainty to all stakeholders about the Government's views on the future of our peatlands and how our SAC raised bogs are to be managed. There is no denying the complexity of the issues involved. Issues can only be resolved by working together within the law and not outside it.
I agree that talking can resolve issues, but if only 48 people have been accommodated over the past 17 years, where will we be after the next 17 years? The people who want to cut turf do not want the money and the people in the Department must get this into their heads. People have cut turf and will continue to do so if the people in the Department keep burying their heads in the sand.
I am well aware of local authorities on tight budgets rationing funds to provide the best road surface to taxpayers, especially in the west. I have spoken to directors of services throughout the country on the issue of roads who are almost crying on the phone because of what the Minister's staff are doing to them. When a road is being built, it seems it is less important than the bird or the ditch which is a so-called SAC. I challenge the SACs because I have asked for ten years for proof that these areas are SACs. In several parts of Ireland the Department's staff in the National Parks and Wildlife Service are terrorising local authority staff trying to build roads-----
The Deputy's time is up.
-----as efficiently as possible. Will the Minister address this situation-----
Sorry, Deputy. This is why we have clocks.
-----because it is taxpayers' money going down the drain?
We must work within the law. The habitats directive was transposed into Irish law after being passed in Europe in 1992. We must abide by it.
Tell me where the SACs are.
We must abide by this law. I met the Deputy with a delegation of turf cutters from my constituency and I will be happy to meet him again to discuss the specific matters he wishes to discuss regarding turf cutters. The Deputy was the chair of the Turf Cutters and Contractors Association. Given his involvement and his obvious expertise in this area, I urge him to work with the Department to resolve the outstanding issues. He must accept the bogs are a very important part of our natural heritage and we have agreed and are committed to preserving them. We must find a solution which is within the law.
