An Irish MEP has voiced concerns about the potential impact of a turf cutting case being taken by the European Commission against Ireland.
Midlands North West MEP Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan was speaking after the commission announced its decision to refer Ireland to the EU Court of Justice for alleged failure to protect bog habitats.
The commission believes that Ireland has failed to apply the Habitats Directive to protect sites designated for raised bog and blanket bog habitats from turf cutting.
According to the commission, authorities here made some progress on the issue, but “have not fully addressed the shortcomings”.
The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage said that Ireland has “proactively engaged” with the commission and stakeholders in relation to alleged breaches and “stands ready to defend its position”.
The department said turf cutting on raised bogs in 2023 was down by almost 40% when compared with the previous year,
Turf cutting
Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan and Independent Ireland TD Michael Fitzmaurice met with representatives from the EU Commission within the past year to discuss this issue.
“In the meeting we had a discussion about the length of time Ireland had already been given to comply. The commission said that progress had been slow, 13 years since the reasoned opinion.
“I agreed that progress had initially been slow but that now turf cutters were engaging,” Flanagan said.
The independent MEP said that 28 families, including his own, cut turf in Cloonchambers bog near Castlerea, Co. Roscommon.
He said that all of the turf cutters are willing to relocate to another bog which “was not easy to agree on”.
“All we are waiting for now is for the state to develop the turf banks in the relocation bog.
“This is not and never was going to be a quick process. However it is a process and I don’t see how a court case is going to make it happen any quicker.
“The planning procedure to develop turf banks on a relocation bog takes time. It’s unavoidable,” the MEP said.
“It took years for turf cutters to develop any trust with the state after its initial attempts to bully people off their property.
“I think that while the commission think they’re doing a good thing its legal proceedings have the potential to send us right back to square one,” Flanagan added.