National Plan For Ireland’s Raised Bog Special Areas Of Conservation

The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Mr Jimmy Deenihan, T.D. and the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Mr Phil Hogan, T.D., have announced that they have obtained the support of the European Commission for the Government's intention to prepare a national plan for Ireland's Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) raised bogs.

The drafting of a national plan is intended to allow solutions for turf-cutters within each of the 53 raised bog sites to be explored in detail. In addition, where alternative solutions can be shown not to exist, the process may allow for consideration of eventually allowing limited turf cutting within a small number of the 53 raised bog SACs in Ireland.