I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 and 13 together.
I refer to my reply to Questions Nos. 342 and 343 of the 26 June 2001. I confirm that, in accordance with the undertaking given by Dúchas, the heritage service of my Department, at the meeting in Tullamore on 24 June 1999, if amounts due to landowners under the proposed Dúchas scheme for losses arising to farmers from the conservation prescriptions on the Shannon callows are greater than amounts received by the same landowners under the Birdwatch Ireland corncrake scheme, the differences will be paid retrospectively. This is an exceptional measure in recognition of the conservation benefits of farmers' participation in the corncrake scheme.
Dúchas, in association with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, funds the voluntary corncrake grant scheme which is administered by Birdwatch Ireland. Grants are paid to farmers whose meadows fall within a 250 metre radius of a singing male, with the male recorded on at least two occasions a minimum of one week apart. Payments are on a per hectare basis for delayed mowing until 1 August, 15 August or 1 September and for centre-out mowing. Birdwatch Ireland is responsible for the implementation of the scheme. Funding of the scheme by my Department will amount to approximately £46,000 this year. Farmers entering the rural environment protection scheme, REPS, are not eligible for payment under the corncrake grant scheme and, as the numbers of landowners entering REPS increases, the costs of the grant scheme will reduce.