Vol. 510 No. 5
195 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands if she will inquire from Dúchas the way in which a de-stocking rate of 81 per cent was calculated for a commonage (details supplied) in County Mayo particularly in view of the fact the commonage tenants believe there is any amount of land for the sheep grazing the commonage; and the right of appeal the commonage tenants have to get their de-stocking rate recalculated. [23053/99]
The position in relation to this matter is that there is a standard procedure used to assess damage on commonages caused by unsustainable stocking levels and an appropriate destocking level is derived from this assessment. The procedure used in the commonage referred to is the same as that used in all other commonages for which plans have been and will be prepared. I am arranging to have the document that sets out the procedure sent to the Deputy. The criteria used in the production of commonage framework plans have resulted in a wide range of levels of de-stocking being indicated within the plans completed to date. In relation to the commonage referred to by the Deputy, the destocking calculations are broken into blocks for operational purposes. The resulting destocking rates are indicative only of the destocking rate for each of these blocks. However, the destocking rate for each farmer will be calculated on the average destocking rate across his commonage rights. The relationship between these blocks and the final destocking requirements for each individual farmer has not yet been determined.
In any particular commonage where the commonage shareholders as a whole dispute the destocking level, derived from the commonage framework plan, they may submit a joint application to Dúchas, the heritage service of my Department and the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development requesting a review of their plan. Arrangements will then be made to reassess the particular commonage in question in accordance with the approved criteria for the preparation of these plans.
