Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 October 2017
440. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if there is a way to proportionally compensate farmers for the land they are obliged to set aside for environmental enhancement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43928/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI understand that this question relates to land set aside as part of a forestry application. I believe the existing provisions to pay landowners for areas left unplanted for environmental reasons are proportionate and adequate.
Under the current Environmental Requirements for Afforestation, between 10-15% of the afforestation site must be treated with particular regard to biodiversity, comprising a combination of open spaces and retained habitats and this includes setbacks beside habitats, watercourses, setbacks beside public roads and archaeological monuments that are not planted.
Up to 15% of this land set aside as Areas for Biodiversity Enhancement or ABE’s as they are known are fully eligible for grant and premium payments.
Where the area within an application has many areas not planted for environmental reasons, the Department under the afforestation scheme is limited to only paying on that amount of the unplanted area that amounts to 15% of the total project area. Situations do exist where, due to multiple sensitivities, the amount of area eligible for payment may exceed the 15% eligible area threshold, resulting in a landowner receiving a payment based on an area less than the gross area of the project. However, these represent a minority of cases and often, with good design, these ineligible areas can be excluded from the afforestation application and left as part of the open farm enterprise.
