CONFIRMATION OF a ban on turf-cutting on 32 bogs was given yesterday, Good Friday, which is the traditional opening day for turf-cutting to start.
A spokesman for the Minister for the Environment John Gormley said he was adamant that the derogation, which had allowed cutting on the bogs for the past 10 years, could not continue.
There had been an expectation the 6,000 farmers and rural dwellers who work the bogs in question might have been allowed a further year as a special interdepartmental committee had been dealing with the controversial issue.
Mr Gormley’s spokesman confirmed that the report had been completed and given to him and that he would be bringing it to the Cabinet later this month.
“The Minister is adamant the derogation from the EU regulation, which has allowed cutting for the past 10 years, will not continue and there will be no turf-cutting on these bogs this year,” he said.
The report of the interdepartmental committee, which involved the departments of agriculture, finance, the environment and the office of the Attorney General, was established to look at all the issues involved, including the scientific reasons for the ban.
Opponents of the ban, which was imposed by the EU to protect the 32 areas involved, included most of the farm organisations and many rural groups who claimed turf-cutting was not damaging the bogs.
The department, on the other hand, has said the number of bogs involved is very small in relation to the overall number of blanket bogs, which is estimated to number 1,600, covering 200,000 hectares of the one million hectares of bogland here.
In the Dáil this week, Mr Gormley defended the decision to ban turf-cutting this year.
“There are thousands of blanket bogs and other raised bogs out there but, specifically, we are talking about 32 of them,” he said.
He said the Inter-Departmental Group on Cessation of Turf Cutting in Designated Areas was established by him to examine and make recommendations on all the implications of halting cutting in these sensitive conservation areas.
Its report had been delayed, the Minister added, because of the need for widespread and extended consultation with interested parties and the need to study the complex legal issues involved.
The Irish Farmers’ Association had accused the Minister of being involved in a charade and a cover-up to impose restrictions on the 6,000 farmers and rural dwellers involved.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service had failed, according to spokesman Michael Silke, to produce any evidence turf-cutting for domestic use damaged bogs.
The areas hardest hit by the ban are in Offaly, Roscommon, Leitrim and Galway, where opposition groups have been established.
