Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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7. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the number of landowners nationally whose land is designated for hen harrier protection; his plans to extend the compensation schemes currently administered by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10557/14]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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My question relates to the designation of lands in different parts of the country, particularly in my own area in west Limerick, for the protection of hen harrier habitats. I am concerned about the compensation arrangements available to some but not all landowners. Where lands are designated for habit protection, thereby limiting their use from an agricultural point of view, but no compensation is forthcoming, the landowners in question are in limbo.

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
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My Department uses a variety of data sources to identify landowners and land users within areas proposed for designation, including the Property Registration Authority, the land parcel identification system used by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and information on forestry lands. When advertising six hen harrier special protection areas in November 2007, my Department identified approximately 4,000 individual land users within these SPAs. In order to include others who may also have had an interest in sites, a total of 4,439 notifications of designation were issued. It should be noted that not all these land users are landowners.

At the time of designation, my Department opened a voluntary incentivisation scheme to support farmers to improve habitat for the hen harrier and various other species that shared the same landscape. Applications were sought and a total of 376 hen harrier farm plans were approved until 2010, when the scheme had to be closed to new applicants owing to budgetary constraints. My Department continues to honour existing contracts, which were of five year duration.

My Department is in 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 rural development plan. These include measures focused on Natura areas, that is, areas designated as special protection areas under the birds directive or special conservation areas under the habitats directive. It is envisaged that this approach will be implemented primarily through the proposed green low carbon agri-environment scheme, GLAS, under the new rural development programme. The draft programme is subject to a public consultation process, as announced by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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Of the 4,439 landowners whose lands have been designated for this purpose, fewer than 10% are in receipt of compensation, which is remarkable. In my own area land that is suitable for agricultural use - forestry, in particular - is, essentially, rendered valueless. When Deputy Michael Creed and I met officials from the Minister's Department and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine some time ago to discuss this issue, we were told that a threat response plan was being initiated by both Departments to ascertain whether the designations would continue in their current form or be reduced in line, for example, with what had been done with the bogs. Has the Minister's Department sought legal advice on the scheme as it currently operates? The people I represent who are outside the scheme are asking me on a weekly basis what is happening with their land and whether they will ever be in a position to farm it. If not, will they at least be compensated for the use to which it is being put?

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Patrick O'Donovan's intervention is timely as my Department is in discussions with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine under the rural development programme to see how best to compensate farmers who are in Natura areas. The points the Deputy has raised are very important. Some 300 farmers were on farm plans to provide proper feeding grounds for the hen harrier but not all farmers in the special protection areas that were designated for hen harriers were involved. The scheme closed due to the financial constraints in 2010 and was not reopened but we are honouring the commitments in respect of those who were in the scheme at the end of that five year programme. We are now discussing how to approach the compensation issue in the next scheme whether it should be funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine or my Department. I feel it should be funded directly from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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I thank the Minister. I will allow him back in.

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister. As the Minister is probably aware, some were not involved because there was an appeals period when many landowners were in the process of trying to get out of the designation and then the door to compensation closed so they were left in the worst of both worlds. I welcome the discussions taking place with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, but can the Minister give the House a timeframe by which a plan will be put in place? Will he examine the scientific evidence on which the designations are based at present? It is questionable that, say, Patrick O'Donovan's farm is in, Michael Creed's farm is out, Bernard Durkan's farm is in. I know the flight paths of birds but I never thought they avoided ditches and particular gates as they flew over. That is a reason for much of the frustration.

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Lest there be any confusion, I have no vested interest or land in the Mullaghareirk or Boggeragh district electoral divisions.

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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Neither have I.

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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This issue is a stain on the Minister's Department and on the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. They are a relatively small number of farmers but they have rights. They are landowners and their rights are being infringed. Deputy O'Donovan asked a pertinent question in respect of legal opinion. They are locked out of a compensation system that others are getting. That is the important issue.

In the context of a threat response plan, to which Deputy O'Donovan referred, we met officials from the Minister's Department and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine almost 12 months ago. How many meetings of the various parties have taken place in drafting that threat response plan because it is multifaceted? It is a complex issue but the simple net point is that there are farmers who are being discriminated against.

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
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The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Simon Coveney, and I have been engaged at a personal and ministerial level on this issue for the past two years. I am concerned that people who live in designated areas should be properly compensated. Compensation should accompany designation and I have emphasised that aspect at national and European level. There is an opportunity to deal with the issue through the rural development programme and we must not miss out on it to ensure that those people who are restricted in farming practices, who cannot plant trees and who may have to destock in some cases, are adequately compensated. The discussions are taking place. As Deputies are aware the RDP proposal is out for consultation at this time. It is important those people who are interested in this area would forward their own submissions. As the Deputy is aware SACs and SPAs are designated by European law. Therefore a change in designation is quite complex.

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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It is not without precedent.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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Question No. 8 is next but the Deputy is not present.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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Question No. 9 is next but the Deputy is not present.