Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 24 March 2021
215. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the evaluations that have been conducted to appraise the potential risk of subsidence of adjacent roads and houses related to proposals to re-wet bogs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14053/21]
View answerThe Bord na Móna Enhanced Decommissioning, Rehabilitation and Restoration Scheme includes the provision of funding of €108 million for the implementation of the Scheme over a period of 5 years. The Scheme will, over time, employ 307 people, some of whom will be engaged on a seasonal basis, with 210 full time equivalents engaged over the delivery period. The scheme will encompass 33,000 hectares of Bord na Móna peatlands previously harvested for peat extraction for electricity generation. The Scheme will protect the storage of 100 million tonnes of CO2 emissions. It is estimated that over the period 2020 to 2050, 3.2 million tonnes of CO2 emissions will be avoided through the implementation of the Scheme.
Under the Scheme, Bord na Móna are required to submit to the National Parks and Wildlife Services an Enhanced Rehabilitation Bog Plan for each bog to be rehabilitated. Individual bog plans are developed on the basis of detailed baseline information collected during Bord na Móna ecological baseline surveys, additional site visits, stakeholder input and monitoring and desktop analysis. The baseline information includes detailed drainage characteristics, bog topography and hydrological modelling, all of which are key considerations in the development of the bog plans. This allows for mitigation measures to be put in place, should any risk be identified. However, it is considered very unlikely that subsidence would occur as a result of bog re-wetting given the relatively flat topography of Bord na Móna bogs,
