Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 October 2019
661. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht further to Parliamentary Question No. 529 of 8 October 2019, each specified activity in question; if the 2004 agreement provided for a payment for designation to reflect its effect on land values or a payment for the management of that land; if so, the payment provided per hectare; and the annual budget allocated for each year that the agreement operated. [42172/19]
View answerThe total list of Activities Requiring Consent (ARCs) is provided in the table. The ARCs listed for a Natura 2000 site are determined by the habitats/species that a site is selected for e.g. ARC 23 is only listed in SPA sites selected for the conservation of Corncrake. Therefore the numbers of ARCS for each site will vary considerably.
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ARC-01 |
Reclamation, including infilling. |
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ARC-02 |
Stocking or re-stocking with fish. |
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ARC-03 |
Blasting, drilling, dredging or otherwise removing or disturbing fossils, rock, minerals, mud, sand, gravel or other sediment. |
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ARC-04 |
All activities relating to turf cutting and/or peat extraction. |
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ARC-05 |
Cutting, uprooting or otherwise removing plants. [Consent is not required for harvesting of cultivated crops, or for grazing or mowing.] |
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ARC-06 |
Introduction, or re-introduction, of plants or animals not found in the area. [Consent is not required for the planting of crops on established reseeded grassland or cultivated land.] |
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ARC-07 |
All activities relating to turf cutting and/or peat extraction. [Consent is not required to continue domestic turf cutting from existing turf banks.] |
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ARC-08 |
Undertaking scientific research involving the collection and removal of biological material. |
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ARC-09 |
Construction or alteration of tracks, paths, roads, bridges, culverts or access routes. |
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ARC-10 |
Construction, removal or alteration of fences, stone walls, hedgerows, banks or any field boundary other than temporary electric fencing. [Consent is not required for normal maintenance.] |
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ARC-11 |
Digging, ploughing, harrowing or otherwise disturbing soil or substrate. [Consent is not required for these activities on established reseeded grassland or cultivated land provided it is greater than 50m from a river, stream, floodplain, wetland, lake, turlough or pond.] |
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ARC-12 |
Applying inorganic or organic fertiliser, including slurry and farmyard manure. [Consent is not required for these activities on established reseeded grassland or cultivated land provided it is greater than 20m from a river, stream or floodplain; or greater than 50m from a wetland, lake, turlough or pond.] |
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ARC-13 |
Applying lime. [Consent is not required for this activity on established reseeded grassland or cultivated land provided it is greater than 20m from a river, stream or floodplain; or greater than 50m from a wetland, lake, turlough or pond.] |
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ARC-14 |
Storage, burial, disposal or recovery of any materials. [Consent is not required for these activities on established reseeded grassland or cultivated land provided it is greater than 20m from a river, stream or floodplain; or greater than 50m from a wetland, lake, turlough or pond.] |
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ARC-15 |
Burning, topping, clearing scrub or rough vegetation or reseeding. [Consent is not required for these activities on established reseeded grassland or cultivated land provided it is greater than 20m from a river, stream or floodplain; or greater than 50m from a wetland, lake, turlough or pond.] |
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ARC-16 |
Modification of caves and/or their entrances. |
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ARC-17 |
Agricultural improvement of heath or bog. |
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ARC-18 |
Application of pesticides, including herbicides. [Consent is not required for these activities on established reseeded grassland or cultivated land provided it is greater than 20m from a river, stream or floodplain; or greater than 50m from a wetland, lake, turlough or pond.] |
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ARC-19 |
Supplementary feeding of livestock. [Consent is not required for this activity on established reseeded grassland or cultivated land provided it is greater than 20m from a river, stream or floodplain; or greater than 50m from a wetland, lake, turlough or pond.] |
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ARC-20 |
Significant changes in livestock density (including introduction of grazing), changes in livestock type or grazing season, other than on established reseeded grassland. [Consent is not required for changes of less than 20% in livestock density unless notice has been given that a lower percentage is applicable to a particular site.] |
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ARC-21 |
Grazing of livestock between 1st April and 31st October on traditional winterages. |
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ARC-22 |
Changing of agricultural use from hay meadow to any other use. |
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ARC-23 |
Mowing of grass crops. [Consent is not required unless notice has been given that mowing on specified lands is likely to interfere with the breeding and reproduction of corncrakes during the period specified in the said notice.] |
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ARC-24 |
Works on, or alterations to, the banks, bed or flow of a drain, watercourse or waterbody. |
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ARC-25 |
Drainage works including digging, deepening, widening or blocking a drain, watercourse or waterbody. |
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ARC-26 |
Entry of livestock or machinery into stretches of river containing, or upstream from, freshwater pearl mussel. |
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ARC-27 |
Water abstraction, sinking of boreholes and wells. |
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ARC-28 |
Felling of trees or removing timber, including dead wood. |
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ARC-29 |
Planting of trees or multi-annual bioenergy crops. |
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ARC-30 |
Any activity intended to disturb birds, including by mechanical, air, gas, wind powered or audible means. |
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ARC-31 |
Developing or consenting to the development or operation of commercial recreational/visitor facilities or organised recreational activities. |
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ARC-32 |
Recreational use of an off-road vehicle. |
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ARC-33 |
Using or permitting the use of land for car parking where it may damage the vegetation, soil or substrate. |
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ARC-34 |
Alteration, renovation or removal of buildings, ruins or other structures. |
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ARC-35 |
Undertaking active acoustic surveys in the marine environment. |
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ARC-36 |
Harvesting marine invertebrate species in intertidal areas. |
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ARC-37 |
Driving mechanically propelled vehicles in intertidal areas, except over prescribed access routes. |
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ARC-38 |
Lighting up caves, buildings or other places used by bats for roosts. |
The 2004 agreement states “that a fair and proper level of compensation shall be paid for any costs or losses of income or value which result from restrictions on farming or other existing activities” and that “standard rates of compensation will be agreed where possible, calculated to provide reasonable support for landowners in implementing measures required to conserve particular habitats and species, and having regard to all compliance costs”. Regulation 41 of the European Communities (Birds and Natural Habitats) Regulations 2011 sets out, in section (1) (a) “Where the Minister refuses consent to an activity under Regulation 30, he or she shall, save for the reasons set out in paragraphs (5) and (6), pay to the owner or occupier or user as the case may be by way of compensation an amount equal to the loss suffered by the owner, occupier or user by the depreciation of an interest in the land to which he or she is entitled,” and that “Subject to subparagraph (b), the amount of compensation payable under paragraph (1) shall be determined by reference to the difference between the antecedent and subsequent value of the land or of an interest in the land consequent on the refusal, modification, variation, or revocation of consent”.
Rates for alterations to farming regimes to incentivise improved management of lands for biodiversity have been paid through the NPWS farm plan scheme since 2006. Some bespoke plans calculated the actual cost of compliance while other plan types, typically for species, operated on the basis of standard rates. These rates were not specified in the 2004 agreement.
Discussions are ongoing with the farming organisations with respect to reviewing the 2004 agreement.
The annual budgetary allocations to the NPWS farm plan scheme are provided in the following table, although some of the allocation figures from 10 years and more ago are not available. I am pleased to confirm that as a result of Budget 2020 , I am doubling the allocation to the Farm Plan Scheme in 2020 to €1m.
|
Year |
Budgetary allocation |
Actual expenditure |
|
2006 |
- |
€1.12m |
|
2007 |
- |
€1.73m |
|
2008 |
- |
€2.01m |
|
2009 |
- |
€2.44m |
|
2010 |
€5.10m |
€3.75m |
|
2011 |
€5.38m |
€4.40m |
|
2012 |
€5.14m |
€3.96m |
|
2013 |
€4.44m |
€3.45m |
|
2014 |
€3.14m |
€2.67m |
|
2015 |
€1.58m |
€1.42m |
|
2016 |
€0.93m |
€0.55m |
|
2017 |
€0.69m |
€0.55m |
|
2018 |
€0.51m |
€0.48m |
|
2019 |
€0.55m |
|
