As the final two items relating to special protection areas are being taken together each Deputy will have five minutes and the Minister of State will have ten minutes to reply.
Adjournment Debate. - Special Protection Areas.
Tens of thousands of acres of land are going to be put beyond agricultural use by the introduction of special protection areas for the hen harrier. Despite the fact that Dúchas flagged this last May issuing indigenous maps of the potential areas, and that it will issue a final map by the end of March, the Minister for Agriculture and Food, in replying to a parliamentary question on 4 February, said the proposals are at a preliminary stage and that the usual consultation process, in which his Department will be included, will take place in due course. In a letter of the same day it was made clear that Deputy Ó Cuív, the Minister with responsibility for rural affairs, has no responsibility for the impact this designation is going to have on family farms and rural life.
For the Minister's information, Dúchas guidelines are already being operated. To quote from a Dúchas letter dated 14 May: "Any wind farm development in afforested areas of uplands would be liable to impact the hen harrier." Dúchas is advising the forestry service of the risks of allowing the planting of open moor and bogland in these areas.
Planning departments are already using these restrictions to restrict the development of wind farms, forestry and housing. These restrictions are being implemented despite the fact that the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, in a parliamentary reply on 4 February, admitted that studies are ongoing into the effect of wind farm development on hen harriers.
There are no known consequences for hen harriers from wind farms at this stage. Hen harriers hunt below the minimum height of turbine rotary blades and, therefore, the potential for impact is considered negligible.
I call on the Minister to instruct Dúchas to withdraw its guidelines to the forestry service and to the planning departments until it publishes the results of its studies. These studies, when completed, must be transparent. If farmers are going to be deprived of income or if their holdings are going to be substantially devalued as a result of designation, they are entitled to know why. The process that leads to designation needs to be examined. All that happens now is that Dúchas writes to the landowner stating that his or her holding is going to be included in an SPA and that the landowner can only appeal this decision on scientific grounds. We are dealing with some of the smallest and least well-off farmers who do not have the resources to make an appeal based on scientific grounds.
This brings us to the area of compensation. The Minister for the Environment and Local Government stated in reply to a parliamentary question, that his Department is not aware of any evidence of these designations having a dramatic impact on land values. Is the Minister seriously contending that 50 acres of land with ten wind turbines or 50 acres of forestry is the same value as 50 acres of scrub or bog? The Minister goes on to say: "The designation of SPAs does not, in itself, give rise to any entitlement to compensation. Compensation is payable when actual financial losses occur."
Designation limits the land's development potential for the future, not just now. If designated, the likelihood is that a farmer will be unable to put wind farms or forests on the land or plough and re-seed it in years to come. There is no question but that the Minister is wrong and that the question of compensation for potential earnings is valid. The Minister is less sure of his ground when he says: "Planning permissions may be refused because of designations without normally giving rise to planning compensation." The word "normally" needs to be clarified.
Everyone recognises that agriculture is in crisis. People are fleeing the land. Alternative farm enterprises like wind farms and forestry are giving hope and a lifeline to many marginalised family farms. We know and accept that under European law SPAs must be created to protect wildlife. However, by being sensible about this and its implementation and by preventing blanket designation it may be possible, if the Minister instructs the various civil servants to take a practical approach, for rural families and wildlife to coexist in rural areas.
I welcome the opportunity to ask the Minister for the Environment and Local Government about the proposals by Dúchas to designate special protection areas for the hen harrier in north-west Cork, the details of the original proposal, the research to date, the exact area proposed, the effect and restrictions this will place on the land and the plans, if any, to compensate landowners.
Special protection areas come under various EU directives. Not all EU directives benefit people living in rural Ireland and some are to their detriment. What are the effects of this proposal? What are the financial implications for farmers? Will compensation be paid? What restrictions will apply to agricultural land? What restrictions will apply to the siting of wind farms in the designated areas and what is the position regarding afforestation?
Various stories are circulating in the parts of the country where these investigations are being carried out by Dúchas. People are hearing rumours and they are concerned. For a long time people have feared that bodies such as Dúchas will come to their rural communities, designate the area and walk away, leaving the people to pick up the pieces. Many of these fears are well founded and are based on the experience of many years.
Much of the disadvantaged land which is being examined by Dúchas in its campaign to preserve the hen harrier is land where wind farms could be sited effectively. Under the Kyoto agreement the State has an obligation to reduce emissions and wind farms are part of our effort to produce clean and efficient energy in the future. How can we sit with these proposals if we are to take away the very areas of the country best suited to wind farms?
Many people in my own constituency have been looking at wind farms as alternative sources of income as their income from agriculture declines. If various parts of Cork North-West or any other part of the country are to be designated by Dúchas as special protection areas to ensure the survival of the hen harrier, what about the survival of landowners, small farmers and those who have lived in these areas for so long? While I accept that some of the EU directive will be implemented, what detrimental effect will it have on the areas preserved? I hope the Minister of State will lay before the House the entire facts of the situation and that we can move forward.
I thank Deputies Murphy and Moynihan for giving me the opportunity to outline the position on the designation of special protection areas. Article 4 of the European Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds, 79/409/EEC, requires member states, including Ireland, to designate special protection areas for wild birds. Under the directive, the selection of sites for designation is based on scientific criteria.
The Department's heritage service is currently considering the suitability of nine upland areas for designation as special protection areas in respect of the hen harrier, one of the species for which SPAs are to be designated under the directive. The hen harrier is one of our four rarest birds of prey. The breeding population is largely concentrated in the south-west as outlined by the Deputies. About half the population of harriers has been lost in the past 30 years.
The nine areas being examined include five wholly or partly in County Cork: Ballyhouras, Counties Cork and Limerick; Nagles, County Cork; Kilworth, County Cork; Boggerag-Derrynasaggart, County Cork; and Stack's-Mullaghareirks, Counties Kerry, Cork and Limerick.
Preparatory scientific work to confirm the suitability of all nine sites and define their boundaries is currently under way and none of the areas being considered has been formally proposed for designation. When the preparatory scientific work is complete, decisions will be taken as to what sites should be formally proposed for designation.
If any sites are formally proposed as SPAs, my Department will follow full notification and con sultation procedures, as was undertaken in relation to other SPA proposals in November 2002 when my Department published proposals to designate the Shannon Callows as an SPA and in March 2002 when proposals to designate 34 new SPAs or extensions to existing sites were published.
The consultation procedures operated by my Department's heritage service involves notification in writing of all known affected landowners in the areas proposed for designation. In addition and against the possibility that ownership of all land holdings cannot be ascertained by my Department, advertisements are placed in local newspapers and on local radio notifying interested parties of the intention to designate these areas. Notices are also displayed in Garda stations, local authority offices, local offices of the Department of Social and Family Affairs, local offices of the Department of Agriculture and Food and local Teagasc offices. The consultation procedures also encompass notification of relevant local authorities, Departments and other interested bodies.
A period of three months is allowed for making objections. Where my Department does not propose, following initial assessment, to recommend the amendment of an SPA envisaged in an objection, the appeals advisory board is available to assist in the assessment of objections by carrying out a further review of cases referred to it and making an independent recommendation to the Government. The board comprises balanced representation from landowner-user organisations and conservation bodies under an independent chairperson. Special protection areas also attract higher levels of payment to farmers who join the rural environment protection scheme, which is administered by the Department of Agriculture and Food.
In general, existing farming activities are likely to be fully compatible with the conservation requirements of hen harriers and other bird species for which SPAs are designated. In these circumstances there will be no need to place restrictions on traditional farming activity. I reaffirm, however, that I am committed to paying fair and reasonable compensation to landowners for any actual loss shown to have been incurred as a result of restrictions that may be imposed on existing activities consequent on designation of their lands.
In relation to the planning process, planning authorities are required to provide in their development plans for the appropriate protection of natural conservation areas, including SPAs. In particular, they must consider whether a development is likely to have a significant effect on an SPA and, if so, to require an environmental impact assessment to be carried out. Where a significant effect on the natural environment is not envisaged, the planning application may be pro cessed without the requirement of an environmental impact assessment.
My Department is at present revising its planning guidelines for wind farms which were published in 1996 and has invited public input into this process. I consider that this process should permit us to refine policy guidance in relation to the co-existence of wind farming and bird life, and we will welcome views on this.
The Dáil adjourned at 9.35 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 12 February 2003.