Flanagan questions Govt definition of raised bogs after cutters' proposals rejected

The Government has rejected a proposal which would have allowed turf cutting to continue on Ireland's raised bogs.

Instead, cutting on the 53 bogs is coming to an end because of an EU Habitats Directive.

The Turf Cutters and Contractors Association (TCCA) had put forward a plan which would have allowed cutting to continue.

However in a statement issued yesterday the Government and the EU Commission jointly rejected the TCCA proposals.

Roscommon TD Luke Ming Flanagan today told KFM that serious questions have to be asked about how the Government and the EU are defining raised bogs.

He said some of the bog complexes designated as raised bogs by the Government were in fact not so.

"It is the equivalent of a judge in Crufts giving 'Best Labrador' to a poodle," Deputy Flanagan charged.

"Those are the sort of experts we are dealing with."