Time to cut a deal with turf families – Murphy

Families who rely on cutting their own turf for winter heating need viable solutions as a compensation scheme ends, a Fine Gael Senator has said.

Senator PJ Murphy said dozens of turf-cutting families in Galway are currently left high and dry as compensation payments expired and no alternative bogs, as previously agreed, have been provided to them.

Senator Murphy called for a resolution to be found with the affected families and Heritage Minister Christopher O’Sullivan who is examining the issue.

The Galway Senator said the families affected previously sourced turf from South Galway bogs (Barroughter, Clonmoylan, and Ardgraigue) which were designated as Special Areas of Conservation (SAC).

Families who enrolled in the Cessation of Turf Cutting Compensation Scheme were promised an alternative bog on which to cut turf in exchange for ceasing operations on the designated SACs. They received annual payments of €1,550 over 15 years but those payments have now come to an end, and the families have not yet been relocated to an alternative bog.

“Families across the community are really worried that with the compensation payments expiring, no alternative bog has been provided meaning no winter fuel and added to this private turf-cutting rights are blocked.

“Heating is the last thing a lot of people are worried about with the current weather but it is a major issue for a lot of families in South Galway.

“We need to see more engagement with the families, so they know their concerns are being listened to. Families have been left with nowhere to cut turf and fear they will have no fuel source for the coming winter,” he said.

“Under the EU Habitats Directive, designation must occur ‘within six years at most’ of a site being identified.

“All three bogs were identified in 1997, yet the relevant statutory instruments were not signed until between 2021 and 2023. Now families are left wondering when they will be allocated a new bog for personal turf cutting.

“These are families, many of them elderly, who rely on turf as their primary source of heating. These are people who are simply trying to heat their homes.

“We need to see a clear and immediate plan for all families whose compensation payments under the Cessation Scheme have expired without a relocation being put in place. I will continue to raise this matter until a resolution is reached,” concluded Senator Murphy.