Turf cutters compensation package may be unconstitutional

By TOM GILMORE THE compensation package being offered to turf-cutters affected by an EU directive on 53 raised bogs designated as Special Areas of Conservation, mostly in Galway, Roscommon and Mayo, could be unconstitutional, according to Labour Senator, Lorraine Higgins. Senator Higgins, a barrister by profession, has suggested that the compensation, which includes a lump sum of €1,500 a year for 15 years, doesnâ€â„¢t take into account the number of acres over which a turf-cutter has rights.[private] The scheme, overseen by the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan, provides for a number of options including a payment of €1,500 each for 15 years along with a sign-up payment of €500, bringing the total to €23,000, index-linked and tax-free. â€Å“But the scheme does not factor into account that there may be more than one family drawing off the same plot. â€Å“Having looked at the compensation scheme, there is certainly an arguable case to be made that it is unconstitutional in many aspects and could well be open to a successful legal challenge,â€Â says the Athenry Senator. â€Å“To award the same two people the same amount of money irrespective of whether one of those people has one acre of bog and the other ten acres of bog is unfair, unreasonable and could well be in breach of their constitutional rights. â€Å“The State should not be interfering in bog-ownersâ€â„¢ property rights without having an adequate compensation scheme in place, which would be a rising scale according to acreage ownership,â€Â she added. In her opinion the scheme is an unfair interference in a personâ€â„¢s property rights. She says it seems that it is flawed. It smacks of â€Å“having been designed by those who have never stood foot on a bog in their life,â€Â she concluded.[/private]