The chair of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association's (ICMSA) farm and rural affairs committee Denis Drennan has said that peatland rewetting projects need to be underpinned by appropriate legislation with guarantees provided against damage to adjoining farms.

Drennan commented on the importance of “getting the procedure right from the start”, as doing so would address concerns surrounding the rewetting procedures before more areas are proposed for rewetting.

“It’s hugely important that Bord na Móna, National Parks and Wildlife Services and any other State agencies involved in rewetting projects understand one thing: farmers neighbouring these projects are not going to be fobbed off by some unenforceable assurance that has no legal basis,” stated Drennan.

Written guarantee

“[The] ICMSA will be insisting on a clear written guarantee from Bord na Móna and the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) to make good any damage to neighbouring farmland where the damage resulted directly or indirectly from the bog rewetting project, and where the damage can be referenced by an independent baseline survey completed before the project proceeds,” he continued.

“The NPWS have appointed Bord na Móna as project managers for a bog in Galway, a project that is actually being proposed and driven by NPWS and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

“We have to hope that those agencies will see the necessity for getting the kind of ‘buy-in’ from the neighbouring farmers that Bord na Móna don’t seem particularly eager to secure on their massive midlands rewetting project,” Drennan said.