My Department provides advice and support to local gun clubs, farmers and landowners in conserving the red grouse in suitable habitats around the country. In the past, my Department has provided some limited funding to gun clubs around the country to assist them in red grouse conservation projects but such funding is now restricted by financial constraints. It is open to organisations to submit projects to the EU LIFE+ fund for species restoration projects, but these require matching funds which are difficult to provide at this time. Finally I should add that my Department provided €3,500 from the Biodiversity Awareness Fund for a national conference on the conservation status of red grouse in 2010.