Vol. 464 No. 2
12 Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the measures, if any, he has taken to prevent purchasers of sheep quotas from stocking hills in degraded areas, thereby nullifying the intention of the grant scheme dealing with reducing sheep numbers in degraded areas. [7821/96]
21 Mr. L. Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the measures, if any, he has taken to prevent purchasers of sheep quotas from stocking hills in degraded areas, thereby nullifying the intention of the grant scheme dealing with reducing sheep numbers in degraded areas. [7817/96]
32 Miss Coughlan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the measures, if any, he has taken to prevent purchasers of sheep quotas from stocking hills in degraded areas, thereby nullifying the intention of the grant scheme dealing with reducing sheep numbers in degraded areas. [7818/96]
48 Mr. Browne (Wexford) asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the measures, if any, he has taken to prevent purchasers of sheep quotas from stocking hills in degraded areas, thereby nullifying the intention of the grant scheme dealing with reducing sheep numbers in degraded areas. [7816/96]
56 Mr. Cowen asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the measures, if any, he has taken to prevent purchasers of sheep quotas from stocking hills in degraded areas, thereby nullifying the intention of the grant scheme dealing with reducing sheep numbers in degraded areas. [7819/96]
57 Dr. McDaid asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the measures, if any, he has taken to prevent purchasers of sheep quotas from stocking hills in degraded areas, thereby nullifying the intention of the grant scheme dealing with reducing sheep numbers in degraded areas. [7820/96]
60 Mr. Jacob asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the measures, if any, he has taken to prevent purchasers of sheep quotas from stocking hills in degraded areas, thereby nullifying the intention of the grant scheme dealing with reducing sheep numbers in degraded areas. [7815/96]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 12, 21, 32, 48, 56, 57 and 60 together.
The rural environmental protection scheme — REPS — introduced in 1994 addresses the problem of designated degraded commonage areas by providing a financial incentive to flockowners to participate in an environmental programme to regenerate affected lands. This may necessitate the reduction in stock numbers to sustainable levels or the removal of sheep from those commonages during the months of November to April, thus limiting the damage which may occur during the winter months and allowing these grazing areas some time to recover. The REPS measure was revised at the end of last year to encourage greater participation in these areas. In addition, to augment the REPS measures, I introduced a national condition into the ewe premium scheme from 1994. Flockowners who graze sheep on degraded commonage areas, and who are not participating in REPS, who wish to expand their flocks, are obliged to give an undertaking not to graze the additional ewes in the designated areas between November and March.
