The creeping criminalisation of turf cutting has moved up to a full gallop, says Carol Nolan TD.

The Laois-Offaly independent deputy made the remark following the announcement by Minister for Environment and Climate Action Eamon Ryan that a regulatory provision will be made to prohibit the marketing, sale or distribution of sod peat from September 2022.

“There is a sense of disbelief and anger within rural communities following confirmation that the sale and marketing of turf is to be prohibited.

“Last April, I explicitly warned that government was engaged in a process of creeping criminalisation with respect to turf cutting and how rural communities in particular choose to utilise this natural resource,” Nolan said.

Zero faith

Nolan acknowledged that “Minister Ryan at the very least has accepted that those with turbary rights will be able to continue to cut and burn sod peat for their own domestic purposes”.

“The difficulty here, however, is that people have absolutely zero faith that this position will be maintained into the future. There is a fundamental lack of lack of trust in anything Minister Ryan has to say when it comes to protecting traditional turf-cutting practices.”

The midlands TD asked if Ireland is “really at the stage where a rural family with a sign outside their property advertising the sale of a few bags of turf are to be treated as eco-criminals?”

“This is grossly disproportionate and unjust, and it needs to be resisted immediately from every rural and indeed every urban TD within the Government,” she said.

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