Special Protection Areas Designation

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 6 March 2013

Wednesday, 6 March 2013

Questions (136)

Patrick O'Donovan

Question:

136. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if he will provide in tabular form by county the number of landowners whose land is designated as part of the hen harrier conservation programme; the numbers of landowners who are in receipt of compensation for this form of land designation under the national parks and wildlife farm plan scheme; the maximum, minimum and average payments made to landowners under this scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11805/13]

Written answers

Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht

My Department utilised the Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS), which is a database of claimants under the Single Payment Scheme supplied by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, for the identification and notification of possible landowners and users in the nine Hen Harrier Special Protection Areas (SPAs) advertised in November 2007. These nine SPA sites covered six counties and, where an individual had land in more than one site, this led to a duplication which altered the figures slightly. The figures in the following table indicate the total numbers of individuals notified, with a breakdown by site and county, as well as the adjusted figure where duplication has been identified.

Code	Site name	Counties	Landowners
4160	SLIEVE BLOOM MOUNTAINS SPA	Laois	288
		Offaly	137
			425
4161	STACK'S TO MULLAGHAREIRK MOUNTAINS, WEST	Cork	380
	LIMERICK HILLS AND MOUNT EAGLE SPA	Kerry	641
		Limerick	687
			1,708
4162	MULLAGHANISH TO MUSHERAMORE MOUNTAINS SPA	Cork	154
4165	SLIEVEFELIM TO SILVERMINES MOUNTAINS SPA	Limerick	121
		Tipperary	348
			469
4167	SLIEVE BEAGH SPA	Monaghan	82
4168	SLIEVE AUGHTY MOUNTAINS SPA	Clare	599
		Galway	723
			1,322
	(excluding duplicates 3,905)	Total	4,160
4163	NAGLES MOUNTAINS SPA	Cork	288
4164	BALLYHOURA MOUNTAINS SPA	Cork	109
		Limerick	166
			275
4166	KILWORTH MOUNTAINS SPA	Cork	73
		Tipperary	12
			85
	(excluding duplicates 605)
		Total	648

My Department has administered a small-scale farm plan scheme using Exchequer funds, which has supported farmers in adopting appropriate management practices in the Hen Harrier SPAs. Due to budgetary constraints, the scheme is now closed to new applicants. The number of participants who are currently in receipt of payments under the farm plan scheme for the Hen Harrier is set out in the following table.

County	Number of Participants
Clare	85
Cork	50
Galway	30
Kerry	58
Laois	6
Limerick	95
Monaghan	10
Tipperary	32
Total	366

Payments under the farm plan scheme are based on eligible lands located within one of the Hen Harrier SPAs and those lands must be managed in accordance with the Hen Harrier prescription. Payments are made at the following rates:

- Eligible areas up to 40 hectares are paid at a rate of €350 per hectare.

- Eligible areas from 40 hectares to 120 hectares are paid at a rate of €25 per hectare.

- Eligible areas in excess of 120 hectares are paid at a rate of €5 per hectare.

The minimum amount received by a participant in the scheme was €293, while the maximum amount received was €16,054. The average payment per participant in the scheme is €7,801.