Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 4 July 2013
161. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the circumstances where a person whose land is designated, under Natura 2000 or under national heritage site designations, is entitled to compensation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32732/13]
View answerCompensation, or financial incentives, may be payable in respect of land within Natura 2000 sites in a number of ways.
Significant amounts of EU and Exchequer funding is provided through the rural development programme, operated by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, which provides for a range of supports for farmers, including specific payments in respect of areas selected for designation under the Birds and Habitats Directives.
My Department administers a small-scale farm plan scheme, which supports farmers in adopting appropriate management practices in the Natura 2000 network. These include supports for sheep destocking on western hills, for managing land for corncrakes and hen harriers, and, separately, as part-contribution to schemes such as the Burren Farming for Conservation Programme. It should be noted that the main farm plan scheme operated by my Department is currently closed to new applicants.
My Department has also put in place a comprehensive compensation scheme for those affected by the cessation of turf cutting on raised bog habitat selected as special areas of conservation under the EU Habitats Directive.
Finally, it should be noted that regulation 41 of the European Communities (Birds and Natural Habitats) Regulations 2011 sets out provisions in relation to the payment of compensation, in certain circumstances where I, as Minister, refuse consent to carry out certain activities within a Natura 2000 site. Section 22 of the Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2000 sets out similar provisions which apply to Natural Heritage Areas.
