In a joint statement with Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Heather Humphreys, Minister Creed said satellite data had revealed 50 illegal fires up to 21 April.

“An indication of the scale of the problem is that this number represents just under half of the total known fire locations to that date,” he added.

The closed period for vegetation burning started on 1 March.

“I would like to remind farmers that where land has been burned, it is not generally eligible for Basic Payment,” the minister warned, except when burning was conducted in full compliance of legal requirements, including prior consultation with the gardaí and local fire services, and with the National Parks and Wildlife Service in designated areas.

“The Government will continue to work closely with the emergency services, local authorities, An Garda Síochána and the National Parks and Wildlife Service. As well as with farm organisations and the forestry industry itself to try to address the problem of uncontrolled fires, and will act on any incidents cross-reported to it, as appropriate,” said Minister Humphreys.

She called on farmers and other members of the public to report suspicious activity to the gardaí and signal any uncontrolled or unattended fire to the fire services by calling 112 or 999.

Meanwhile, the largest wildfire continued to burn in Cloosh Valley in Co Galway, with images from the area showing plumes of smoke rising from a wide arc of forest, hill and bog land.

IFA Galway vice-chair Martin Gibbons, who farms near Oughterard, told the Irish Farmers Journal that “the choppers were flying there all day” on Tuesday, with the Air Corps joining efforts to control the blaze.

Coillte said in a statement this Wednesday lunchtime that it continued joint efforts with Galway Fire Service and the Defence Forces to bring the fire under control, with flare ups reported near the Galway Wind Par turbine site. Over 1,500 hectares of forestry and 2,000 hectares of bog land have been destroyed in the fire to date, the forestry company said.

"While the cause of the fire at Cloosh Valley has yet to be definitively established, it is believed that the fire originated from deliberately set gorse fires, which subsequently spread onto Coillte owned forestry and the Galway Wind Park site," the statement said. "Recent dry and windy weather has greatly increased the risk of gorse and forest fire, but deliberate fire setting has also been a significant factor in the cause of many of the fires on Coillte property around the country."

Gibbons acknowledged that the fire had started in a commonage area on Sunday, citing illegal vegetation burning by farmers or some of the many picnics and barbecues taking place in the area at the weekend among the possible causes.

He added that the fire had caused extensive damage to forest wildlife habitats in the Cloosh Valley. “It may be problematic if it drives the deer out, with TB,” Gibbons said.

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