AN IMPROVED compensation package for displaced turf cutters using raised bogs has been announced by Minister for Heritage Jimmy Deenihan.

He said the annuity payment would be increased from €1,000 to €1,500 annually for 15 years. An additional once-off incentive payment of €500 for qualifying cutters would be provided this year where agreements were signed with his department.

The quantity of cut turf to be delivered, as an interim measure, to those opting for relocation would be increased by 15 tonnes, said Mr Deenihan.

Extra turf would also be provided where multiple users had sourced from one plot and where the total cut was over 15 tonnes annually.

Those who had already applied would be entitled to the improved package.

Mr Deenihan was speaking in the Dáil last night during a debate on a Private Members’ motion, moved by the technical group, calling for the submission of a national raised bog restoration plan to the EU Commission.

The House will vote on the motion tonight. Earlier, at Question Time, Mr Deenihan recalled that last year the Government had announced a compensation scheme for those affected by the cessation of turf cutting in bogs designated as special areas of conservation (SACs).

It was estimated that 750 individual turf plots were covered by those SACs and, to date, almost 650 applications for compensation or relocation had been received.

Mr Deenihan later said that nothing had been done over the years, although scientific studies had shown there was continued and dramatic decline in the health of raised bogs.

By the time everyone was forced to confront the issue, under threat of major fines in the Court of Justice of the European Union, and further reputational damage to Ireland, there was no trust, he added.

Luke Flanagan (Ind, Roscommon-South Leitrim) said the turf cutters and contractors association was ready to progress proposals in a spirit of co-operation and partnership.

A pillar of the proposals was that in the vast majority of bogs, there would be relocation to a nearby bog of similar quality and infrastructure.