The Department of Housing paid a bog plot owner €130,000 to access their "expertise and networks" in connection with the turf cutting compensation scheme.

Details of the payment were revealed in a report published by the Comptroller and Auditor General on "the management of compensation for cessation of turf cutting".

The report highlights that the Department of Housing had agreed a "liaison arrangement" with the plot owner to act as an agent for the department.

The report outlined that "evidence available to support and verify" the bog plot owner's work "is limited" and records had been disposed of for data security reasons.

The bog plot owner was also a "beneficiary" of a scheme lump sum payment while working for the department.

Turf cutting

Restrictions were introduced in Ireland on turf cutting on 53 raised bog Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) and was extended in 2014 to include 36 raised bog Natural Heritage Areas (NHA).

Continued cutting of turf on designated bogs is an offence and fines or imprisonment can be applied if anyone is found to have cut turf.

A scheme had been set up in 2011 to compensate bog owners and turf-cutting rights holders who were affected by the restrictions and interim payments of up to €1,500 to around 650 applicants were paid out.

However it was found following checks that not all applicants met the scheme's criteria and "the total irregular amount paid was calculated to be €75,800".

The scheme is currently administered by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

In September 2024, the department announced the closure of the scheme to new applicants but continued to accept applicants until June 2025.

At the end of last year according to the Comptroller and Auditor General the "cumulative expenditure on compensation under the scheme" was almost €84 million, paid to around 3,300 beneficiaries.

Turf-cutting

The Comptroller and Auditor General's report focused on whether:

The controls in place to ensure that the scheme’s eligibility criteria were met;
How the department confirms that the ongoing conditions of the scheme are adhered to - ie. that beneficiaries of the scheme must permanently cease turf
cutting;
How the department evaluates the effectiveness of the scheme in the achievement of its objectives.

The department has a number of means of checking that turf cutting has stopped and has not started again, including a mapping tool, on-ground inspections and aerial images.

According to the Comptroller and Auditor General's report if a scheme beneficiary is identified as "potentially cutting turf" they are then contacted by the Department of Housing.

In order to continue to receive compensation payments, the beneficiary must provide a declaration stating that they are not the person who cut turf on the bog.

But according to the Comptroller and Auditor General's report the Department of Housing "does not conduct any furtherchecks to verify this statement".

The report also highlights that the department "could not provide the total number of declarations it had sought or received".

The Comptroller and Auditor General report highlights that an examination team requested information regarding the number of instances of "illegal turf cutting detected" following the payment of compensation.

The Department of Housing stated that this information was not available but was currently being reviewed with the intention of contacting beneficiaries if instances of illegal turf cutting are detected.