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The European Commission is to refer Ireland to the European Court of Justice for failure to apply the habitats directive in protecting designated raised bog and blanket bogs from turf cutting.
Ecologist Pádraic Fogarty said the decision was “disgraceful”, given it was 13 years since the original complaint was made.
The commission decided on Wednesday to refer the Government to the court. The directive requires member states to designate their most precious natural habitats and to protect them from harmful activities – especially where they are designated as special areas of conservation.
Bog lands in Ireland continue to be degraded through drainage and turf cutting activities, and insufficient action is being taken to restore the sites, it concluded.
“These areas are biodiversity hotspots playing host to important insect and bird species. They are categorised as ‘priority’ habitats under the directive due to their unique qualities. Peat bogs are also vital carbon sinks when healthy, while a UN report estimated that Ireland’s degraded peatlands emit 21.5 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year,” it added.
Mr Fogarty said the move comes 13 years after the first warning, adding “why are we doing nothing to prevent the disappearance of our most important habitats?”
He said environmental groups highlighting concerns believed “these problems would be solved a long time ago”, after a national peatlands strategy was put in place and agreements were reached with turf cutters.
Some progress was being made with raised bogs concentrated in the Midlands, but turf cutting was continuing on a quarter of sites, which he attributed to the Government having no backbone is curbing extraction, he added.
Nothing was being done, he said, with blanket bogs in upland areas – mostly in the west of Ireland – where it was unclear on the extent of turf cutting being allowed.
He predicted heavy fines were likely to be imposed, but believed “the Government is not particularly scared by the threat of fines”. They were more concerned about the political backlash if they address the issue, Mr Fogarty said.
He understood why the Government did not want to be seen to be heavy-handed by, for example, using helicopters to monitor bogs, but there were other ways of dealing with the problem.
“Despite some progress, the Irish authorities have not fully addressed the shortcomings,” the Commission said. “While some restoration work has been undertaken on raised bog sites, no action has been taken regarding blanket bog sites where Ireland has failed to put in place an effective regulatory regime to protect these unique bog sites”.
Seán Canney, an Independent TD for Galway East, said the Government should defend the rights of people to cut turf for their own use.
“At present people who are cutting turf are doing so as the only way of heating their homes, providing hot water, washing clothes and cooking meals for their families. The alternative form of heating is too expensive for most people to install, and the running cost are not affordable to most families.
“The Habitats Directive requires member states to protect their most precious natural habitats but where does the Irish citizen fit in, and rights of a citizen to live and provide heat and food for their family. Surely human life is more precious than a bog.”
Independent TD for Roscommon-Galway Michael Fitzmaurice said the European Commission’s decision had “obliterated years of progress made between NPWS and domestic turf-cutters and contractors”.
Deputy Fitzmaurice, Chairman of the Turf Cutters and Contractors Association (TCCA), said the decision will “be felt across the country, undermining the delicate balance achieved between national authorities and those directly impacted by the Habitats Directive”.
The independent TD has convened a meeting of the TCCA where a response will be discussed, including the possibility of withdrawing co-operation in relation to the rewetting of lands.
“Today’s decision creates the serious risk that we will see a complete breakdown in co-operation between stakeholders domestically, and may very well see a return to tensions on Irish bogs which in recent years had been defused,” he said.
“The day of turf cutting is, sadly, coming to an end,” he said, suggesting changing domestic practices – such as the construction of houses without chimneys – were already leading towards a natural resolution of the issue within a generation.
“The EU has once again shown that it is out of touch with reality and is more interested in using a hammer to crack this nut than diplomacy which is my book is the mark of a bully,” he said.
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