Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 June 2015
8. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the number of bogs where full relocation has been completed in the past 12 months; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23541/15]
View answerEighteen years after the signing into law of the EU habitats directive and the restriction of turf cutting on special areas of conversation, SAC-designated bogs, a succession of Governments have failed to deliver on the relocation of turf cutters. Some 781 turf cutters have sought relocation. At the current rate of progress, it will take 276 years to complete the process. There has been an abject failure on the part of the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, to deliver alternative turf banks for those who wish to continue cutting turf. Senior management within the Minister's Department should be relocated.
Relocation is a complex process. It involves investigating suitable sites for turf quality and quantity, determining the infrastructure-drainage works required, establishing the number that can be accommodated on the site and the cost and feasibility of land purchase or lease, and meeting possible planning and environmental impact assessment requirements.
Notwithstanding this complexity, progress in relocating turf cutters to non-designated bogs is being achieved in a number of cases and arrangements have been made as regards the Clara bog SAC in County Offaly, where 25 qualifying turf cutters have been accommodated on Killeranny bog, and Carrownagappul and Curraghlehanagh bogs SACs in County Galway, where 23 qualifying turf cutters have been accommodated on the Islands and Killasolan bogs. A further seven qualifying turf cutters from Carrownagappul and Curraghlehanagh bogs are being accommodated at Cloonabricka bog in County Galway where turf cutting is scheduled to commence next year. Works have been undertaken on Lemanaghan bog in County Offaly with a view to facilitating 12 qualifying turf cutters from the Moyclare bog SAC.
Progress has been made to relocate a small number of individual turf cutters to bog plots in counties Westmeath and Galway. Potential relocation sites have been identified for each of the remaining raised bog SACs 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 those sites.
For a number of these SAC sites the relocation sites identified may not be suitable or have the capacity to cater for the number of turf cutters who may wish to relocate there. In such cases, and in the context of the finalisation of the national raised bog SAC management plan, my Department is considering the available options in terms of relocation and the provisions of the EU habitats directive. Under Article 6.3 of the directive, consent could only be given to cut turf on a raised bog SAC where it can be shown that such cutting would not have an adverse effect on the site. Under Article 6.4, consent could only be given for imperative reasons of overriding public interest.
The figures that I have supplied relate to the past 12 months. I will provide the Deputy with further figures shortly.
I thank the Minister for her response. The totals to date are similar to the figures that she has given for the past 12 months. I am sure that, like me, she has been speaking to staff on the ground. It has been clear since the outset of this process that senior management is intent on ensuring that turf cutters are removed from SAC-designated bogs without being provided alternatives. While the relocation has become a priority under this Government's term, is it not the case that the only successful relocations to date have resulted from the facilitative work of a former Deputy, Mr. Paul Connaughton Snr.-----
-----and that the Minister's Department and its senior officials have singularly failed to achieve any scale of relocation?
This Government has put in place more resources and made greater efforts to resolve the issue of protecting Ireland's SAC raised bogs than any previous government. It is a complex issue in some areas. Progress has undoubtedly been made. Some 3,091 applications have been received under the cessation of turf cutting compensation scheme for SAC raised bogs. Of these, 755 applications, or less than 25%, have indicated an interest in relocating to non-designated bogs. Forty-eight applicants have been accommodated on non-designated bogs, with a further seven scheduled so far to be accommodated next year.
My Department has written to approximately 300 turf cutters seeking expressions of interest in relocating to specific non-designated bogs. Of the 755 applicants interested in relocation around 355, or 47%, have been relocated, are scheduled to relocate next year or have been provided with the possibility to relocate to a suitable specific non-designated bog.
There is absolutely no doubt but that this Government has provided more resources in this regard than any previous Government. The Department has forked out €11 million in annual payments, turf deliveries and once-off payments. The reality for the cohort of turf cutters who want to continue, however, is that the vast majority of them have yet to be relocated 18 years down the road. I accept that relocating turf cutters is a complex process, but is it not the case that until this Government took office virtually nothing was done, other than the issue in Clara, to facilitate relocation? The Department sat on its hands concerning it.
Is it not the case also that even when one has gone through this complex process, the Department digs in its heels and is not prepared to purchase the bogs required to facilitate relocation? There have been a number of examples where the Minister's Department has balked at the very last minute from purchasing specific bogs that would facilitate relocations.
If the Deputy could bring that matter to my attention privately I will certainly raise the issue of the specific bogs he is talking about, which we did not proceed to purchase. I would be interested to hear about those and I will follow that up.
I have asked my officials to treat relocation as a priority. I have to acknowledge, however, that sometimes it is very slow work. I wish to acknowledge the work of the former Deputy, Paul Connaughton, in this respect. I have been down to visit that bog and much work has been done there. Mr. Connaughton has worked closely with my Department and the success of the project can be attributed to the great work he has put into it. I have been down there to see it for myself at first hand.
We must refocus and see our bogs as a great asset. The EU considers them to be worthy of designation and we must see them as an asset in terms of biodiversity and tourism. We should consider developing more cycle-ways and walking paths. Some 9 million Germans take cycling holidays annually, so we should regard our bogs as a great asset in that context. We should develop them as a recreational amenity that will bring benefits to bogland areas.
