INDEPENDENT TD Luke “Ming” Flanagan has warned the Minister for Heritage that people who are not entitled to it may be applying for compensation to stop turf cutting.

Mr Flanagan, a Roscommon-South Leitrim TD, told Jimmy Deenihan: “The last thing we want is people who have not been cutting turf applying for compensation in order to help them with burning turf or getting alternative fuel in their fires.”

He was flagging the issue a “because the only people who have contacted me about the compensation package have turned out not to be entitled to the package because they have not cut turf for years”.

He said he discovered this when he checked their requests. “The vast majority, when I told them there was no point in applying for the scheme said ‘sure we’ll apply for it anyway. We might get it’.”