Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 June 2014
9. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide details of the engagement his Department has had with the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht 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. [23712/14]
View answerThis question relates to difficulties, of which the Minister of State is acutely aware, being experienced by farmers and landowners in certain parts of the country for a number of years. They arise in respect of the protection of habitat for certain birds and in particular the hen harrier, which is a bird being protected under the European Union directive in east and west County Limerick, as well as elsewhere in the country. Essentially, I am asking what has been the level of interaction between the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with the Minister's colleague, the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, with a view to trying to resolve the issue landowners are having.
The hen harrier is a species of high conservation value listed in Annex I of the EU birds directive, which provides a legislative framework for the conservation of the species. Six special protection areas, SPAs, have been designated under the birds directive for the protection of the species in Ireland.
Due to concerns raised by the European Commission regarding SPA management and within the context of ongoing concern regarding the species itself, the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht has initiated the development of a threat response plan, TRP, under section 39 of SI 477 of 2011. The Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht will carry out public consultation regarding this plan, which will set out measures necessary to preserve, maintain or re-establish a sufficient diversity and area of habitat for the species. It is intended that this plan will bring predictability and clarity to landowners about the future management of these sites.
An incentivising scheme known as 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. This scheme is closed to new applicants and I understand the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht has no plans to continue this scheme.
As for payments to farmers whose lands are in SPAs, the new green low-carbon agri-environment scheme, GLAS, will provide for payments to farmers who undertake specific actions on their land to protect endangered bird species, including the hen harrier. Farmers whose land falls within the hen harrier SPAs will be able to apply for priority access to the new scheme when it opens. GLAS will provide for payments of up to €5,000 per annum to farmers who join the scheme.
The Minister, Deputy Deenihan, and I are well aware of the issues the Deputy has raised today that are faced by landowners in these areas, including issues relating to land values and afforestation approvals. There have been ongoing discussions between my Department and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht regarding the hen harriers. Last week, I met the Minister, Deputy Deenihan, on this issue again. I am familiar with the area Deputy O'Donovan represents, he has brought this matter to my attention several times and I believe the following point is of importance to him. Last week, we agreed that at the earliest possible date after the summer, which is next September, and following sufficient progress on the development of the threat response plan, the two Departments will seek the Commission’s agreement to an interim approach to afforestation. If agreement can be reached, this would allow for a limited amount of afforestation approvals in this areas, which would be of major advantage to the people concerned in the relevant areas.
I welcome the suggestion in respect of afforestation because much of the land in question - the Minister of State is familiar with the quality of the land to which I refer - is suitable for very little other than afforestation. Moreover, given the habitat in which the bird apparently wishes to reside, it has picked what probably is some of the most disadvantaged land in which to have its habitat. In itself, this has had a double complicating factor because if, for arguments sake, one must cut rushes to draw down a single farm payment from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine but at the same time the National Parks and Wildlife Service states one cannot cut rushes because of the hen harrier's habitat, one has a cross-compliance issue straight away. These farmers are caught between the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the wind energy sector and the Forest Service. They are stuck in limbo at present and while I acknowledge that a threat response plan is being developed, there has been a succession of public meetings on this issue. Both landowners and farmers seek a working group that encompasses the farming representatives, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht as well as all the other vested interests.
Thank you Deputy.
There is no scientific evidence that any threat on its own, be it wind, forestry or intensive farming, has anything to do with the depletion of numbers of this bird. Even after all the schemes that have been initiated over many years, the numbers of pairs of these birds that are breeding are dropping anyway.
Thank you. I will come back to the Deputy.
I will finish by noting this is an issue of huge importance in my part of the country, as the Minister of State is aware.
Thank you.
I ask that both Departments would sit down together with the relevant stakeholders in this regard.
I assure Deputy O'Donovan of one thing, which is I acknowledge there is a problem. I visited the Deputy's constituency myself in the company of officials from my Department and we saw at first hand specific cases of difficulty involving people who sought to plant their land. The problem is that the blanket ban is ruining it. Last week's meeting went a long way towards resolving this problem and the proposal is to come up with an arrangement by next September that we can bring to Europe. If we are given time between now and September, we should have a plan in place to bring to Europe, where we can explain to the officials there that the overall blanket ban should be lifted, that this should apply only to the designated areas in which the hen harrier actually is in place and one should be able to plant in areas other than that specific area.
I thank the Minister of State.
As for afforestation, the number of acres available for forestry planting must be increased and this would go a long way towards that. I assure the Deputy that-----
I thank the Minister of State but we are over time and Deputy O'Donovan must ask a question.
I will be brief. I will ask again about the Minister of State's Department, the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, the farming organisations and the wind energy people because a great deal of this land is suitable for very little other than afforestation, wind and things like that. This issue is not restricted to County Limerick but occurs across the country. My greatest concern is there has been a depletion in the numbers of breeding pairs of this bird over years and the reason is not known. Moreover, we probably never will know why because the scientific evidence is a bit woolly, to be honest about it. My worry is there may be a request from the National Parks and Wildlife Service to extend these areas out even further into west County Limerick and to bring in even more land without a proper regime or structure. That is why I now ask, in the context of a threat response plan for the habitat of this bird, that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht come together, acknowledge there is a problem, meet the landowners, discuss with them what can be done and come up with a plan that reflects the needs of the bird and its habitat but which also respects the needs of the habitat of the people who live on this land.
A final reply from the Minister of State.
First, I have no problem in meeting any of the landowners and my door is open in that regard. We had a meeting last week but the difficulty is the threat response plan is taking so long to be developed. While we were given a commitment that it would be ready by about now, it is not ready because of other issues around it. As we cannot pull it from the sky, it is to be hoped that the threat response plan will be available within 12 months. In the meantime, however, I assure the Deputy that I will meet anyone to discuss this issue and will have further meetings if so doing helps to resolve the problem. I am quite open to dealing with the office of the Minister, Deputy Deenihan, and with his officials to try to resolve this issue. I assure the Deputy and the people in general in this regard. I acknowledge there are many worried farmers, as Deputy Ferris also is aware, and it is a matter of huge concern. We want to work together and to work with these people and I give the Deputy an assurance that my door is open to discuss matters.
I fully concur with Deputy O'Donovan. I met with farmers in the area. There is another problem. I refer to people who entered into the contract, albeit a little late because of the procedure and so forth, and they have not received one cent. There are hundreds of such farmers. Their land is effectively sterilised and they are getting no income from it. In the boundary area of parts of north-west Cork and into west Limerick, there is forestry on one side of the road and half a mile down the road there is forestry while in between the land is sterilised. It makes no sense whatsoever. There needs to be a complete reappraisal of this situation. I concur with the need for a working group to try to resolve the situation. In the meantime, people have had no income for many years and effectively their land has been sterilised. I ask the Minister of State to give it his immediate attention.
I agree with the Deputy. I would be the first to acknowledge that there is a problem and we have to deal with it. I have stated to Deputy O'Donovan that my door is open to assist in any efforts to resolve this problem. Forestry is under my remit. I want to increase the acreage to be planted as stated in the programme for Government. Two weeks ago, I attended a major forestry conference at Enfield, County Meath and I committed to that project. I am resolved to try to increase the number of acres of forestry to be planted each year because it provides jobs in rural areas. When I was in Deputy O'Donovan's area last week, I saw land that was perfect for forestry but it could not be touched. I want to resolve that situation. However, at all times we must protect the hen harrier as directed by EU regulation but the blanket ban has created a fierce problem for the specific farmers who have not been paid. I will keep that in mind.
