Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 11 June 2014
15. Deputy Martin Ferris asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the reason no compensation was paid to land designated as a special protection area for the hen harrier despite the fact that applicants were promised €14,000 for the first 100 acres. [20213/14]
View answer26. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if he will provide details of the engagement that his Department has had with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine on the development of a scheme to adequately compensate farmers and landowners whose lands have been designated for the protection of the habitat of the hen harrier; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24281/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 15 and 26 together.
Ireland is obliged under the EU Birds Directive to designate Special Protection Areas (SPAs) for Annex I species such as the Hen Harrier. Annex I species are those that are deemed in greatest need of conservation due to population and range declines.
An incentivising scheme - the National Parks and Wildlife Service Farm Plan Scheme - was made available to landowners in certain SPAs to undertake measures above and beyond what is required in terms of compliance with legislation. The Hen Harrier SPAs were included within this scheme and Hen Harrier farm plans accounted for 360 of the 658 farm plans that have been produced across the country to date.
Such farm plans were voluntary and scheduled over five years, during which time the landowner received annual payments for carrying out the additional habitat measures in accordance with the plan.
In the case of Hen Harrier, prescriptions included maintenance of suitable rush cover, suitable stocking rates, improvement of hedgerows and control of encroaching scrub. This scheme was sourced from Exchequer funding. Due to budgetary constraints, the scheme closed to new applicants in April 2010. My Department is honouring contracted commitments to the end of the 5 year period.
In terms of the future, my Department is in ongoing discussions with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine concerning a range of measures for the protection or restoration of biodiversity under Ireland's next EU co-funded Rural Development Programme (RDP). The draft RDP includes measures focused on areas designated as SPAs under the Birds Directive or Special Areas of Conservation under the Habitats Directive. It is envisaged that this approach will be implemented through the proposed new GLAS scheme. The latest version of the GLAS scheme makes specific reference to the Hen Harrier. The draft RDP is currently subject to a public consultation process, as announced by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
