The Bord na Móna Enhanced Decommissioning, Rehabilitation and Restoration Scheme (EDRRS) was approved by the Government in 2020 for the enhanced rehabilitation of 33,000 hectares of Bord na Móna peatlands that had been previously harvested for peat extraction for electricity generation. This rehabilitation will take place on 82 bogs over a 5 year period. Initially funding was from the Climate Action Fund up the value of €108 million, but subsequently, the full funding was secured from the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility on completion of agreed milestones. All of the lands being rehabilitated are operated under Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) licences granted by the Environmental Protection Agency. The EDRRS is building on, and complementing, the measures required under IPC licences. The EDRRS is sponsored by my Department, and regulated by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), with Bord Na Móna acting as the operators of the scheme.
In 2021, the first year of this project, 19 rehabilitation plans were approved with works commenced on 18. Plans for the 2022 campaign on a further 21 bogs in the Midlands region are well advanced. The NPWS approved the rehabilitation plans for Derrycashel Bog in 2021. Funding from EDRRS can only be drawn down when the works are completed and verified by NPWS. Works on Derrycashel Bog are still on going, so no funding has been drawn down for this bog. Stakeholder engagement and a public consultation process were carried out prior to the commencement of rehabilitation works.
Bog rehabilitation actions are planned on a rolling year by year basis, taking account of operational constraints. Therefore, works plans for the remaining bogs of Derryadd and Derryarogue Bog have not yet been submitted for approval.