Vol. 486 No. 4
116 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands if she will give the details of the national scheme put in place to provide compensation for farmers affected by the special areas of conservation scheme or SPA's; and the number of farmers paid to date. [2778/98]
I refer the Deputy to my reply to Question No. 339 of 2 December 1997 and to replies to previous Questions, No. 101 of 27 February 1997 and No. 31 of 13 May 1997. An information note regarding compensation, which was sent by my Department to all those thought to own or use land in proposed SACs, is available from Dúchas, the heritage service, and I am forwarding a copy to the Deputy for his information. In addition, the following has been offered recently as the standard level of compensation for turf cutting restrictions: purchase at £1,000 per acre or undifferentiated turbary right — this is considered reasonable given that my Department has wide experience of purchasing similar land for lower prices than this around the country; relocation where available as an alternative to outright purchase. Once-off compensation of £100 per mile will be paid for additional travel. It is considered that it will be possible to offer relocation to those affected in many, although not all areas. Where a turbary right owner considers there are particular circumstances justifying a higher level of compensation, such cases will be looked at on a case-by-case basis.
