We are very pleased to be here today to address the issue before the committee concerning negotiations on the purchase and sale of land in All Saints bog in County Offaly. All Saints bog is one of a relatively small number of raised bogs which were designated as special areas of conservation further to Ireland's obligations under the habitats directive. All Saints bog was notified for designation in 1997. In 1999, the then Minister provided that all commercial turf cutting on these sites was to cease and that cutting for domestic purposes could continue for a period of ten years. The voluntary bog purchase scheme was subsequently introduced. This allowed bog owners and turbary rights owners to sell their land or turbary rights to the State for prescribed sums per acre. There were also provisions for incentive payments where turf cutting was ceased before the ten-year derogation elapsed. The scheme has had in excess of 2,000 applicants, of which more than 1,000 have resulted to date in execution of contracts for the sale of land or turbary rights. The remainder are being processed. All of these contracts were completed at the rates prescribed as part of the scheme.
As the committee is aware, the vendors in this case were 14 landowners with turf cutting rights in All Saints bog. They were represented as a single group in a single set of negotiations with the Department. The Department was originally interested in acquiring the land in question as the lands were included in a candidate special area of conservation since 1997 with a view to achieving an end to domestic turf cutting on the site and facilitating restoration of the bog. Under the voluntary purchase scheme, standard rates of €3,500 for the first acre and €3,000 per acre thereafter are offered to those interested in selling. These rates had been agreed with farming representative groups in 2004. The landowners in this case did not wish to sell their holdings to the State at these rates.
In 2006, the Department entered into negotiations with the landowners' representative, Mr. Sean Canny, to ascertain if contractual agreement could be reached in this case. Over 2006 and 2007, negotiations took place between the national parks and wildlife service, which was advised on valuation by the Office of Public Works, and Mr. Canny. For most of 2006, the NPWS was represented by Mr. Eamon Brennan, assistant director at that time. In the third quarter of that year, Mr. Brennan was replaced in that position by Mr. William Culbert.
As previously raised in the committee's meeting with the landowners in question last November, during August 2006, the then Minister of State at the Office of Public Works, Mr. Tom Parlon, chaired a meeting between the landowners, Mr. Canny, Mr. Culbert of the NPWS and Mr. Eamon Coyle, a valuer from the Office of Public Works. This meeting did not conclude final agreement on rates to be offered but decided that the negotiations between the parties should continue. After further discussions between Mr. Culbert and Mr. Canny, it was noted on the file that on 17 April 2007 agreement had been reached with Mr. Canny that a price of €5,100 per acre could be offered to the landowners, subject to contract. This offer was conveyed by Mr. Canny but was not accepted by the landowners. Shortly after this, Mr. Culbert was assigned to other duties as a result of the Government decentralisation programme and was replaced by Mr. James O'Connell, who is present.
Further meetings took place between Mr. O'Connell and Mr. Canny in an effort to establish if agreement could be reached on a price. After further consideration and discussion, an increased offer of €5,500 per acre was discussed between Mr. O'Connell, in consultation with Ms Oonagh Buckley, my predecessor and director of the NPWS at the time, whom I replaced in 2008. However, before this final offer was confirmed, the matter was reviewed within the Department. It was decided, pending a decision on more generalised compensation arrangements for ending turf cutting in SACs, which was approaching then and would become necessary within two years of that time, that no payment of rates above those at that time available under the cessation of turf cutting scheme should be made to individual vendors. Accordingly, the review determined that, as a matter of policy, at this time no contract should be concluded involving rates higher than those available under the terms of the voluntary purchase scheme. It was felt that the Department should not make an exception in this case by offering higher rates. The conclusion arrived at was that the proposed agreement would be likely to create a precedent which would lead to considerable pressure to pay the proposed higher rates to all applicants under the voluntary purchase scheme and thus undermine the basis and accepted rates of that scheme. The option of going to formal arbitration was pointed out to the vendors, but this has not been pursued by them to date.
The Department understands very well the unhappiness of the landowners in this case who expected the Department to conclude the contract. As is normal, property sales agreements are subject to contract. In this case, as in many others, both in the voluntary purchase scheme and in property sales generally, property may be sale agreed but ultimately not lead to contract. While once again acknowledging the landowners' disappointment, the Department was within its legal rights in not proceeding to contract. This has been confirmed and verified by our legal advice from the Chief State Solicitor.
The Department must balance several issues in considering this case in the broader context of protection of these sites. We must balance the interests of the particular landowners in this case, those of other landowners who have concluded sales to the Department at prescribed rates, those who are in the process of concluding those sales and the interests of the taxpayer who, ultimately, carries the financial burden of these acquisitions. The landowners may wish to note that the Government is considering compensation arrangements for those adversely affected by the end of the derogation for domestic turf cutting on these bogs. An interdepartmental committee has recently reported to the Minister, Deputy Gormley, and has outlined options being considered by Government regarding compensating those affected by the end of the derogations in the designated raised bogs in question. That report is available on the NPWS website.
Under the current legislation, a right of compensation arises where a landowner or user has been refused consent to carry out works, including turf cutting or associated drainage works, by the Minister under the habitats regulations or wildlife Acts. I understand that no application to continue turf cutting has yet been received from the landowners in question, but the receipt and refusal of any such application would trigger a right to compensation where turf cutting has been lawfully carried out up to now. If agreement is not reached on a rate of compensation, there is provision for independent arbitration. I thank the committee for its attention and will be happy to address any questions.
