Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the interesting presentation, the enthusiasm of Dr. Dunford and the positivity of the project. We spend much of our time on this committee dealing with problems. It is nice to hear a positive account of a project that is working well and should be rolled out.

Are payments to individual farmers over and above what they were receiving before the scheme was in place? To qualify for payment I presume they have to undertake measures over and above the requirements of REPS or the SAC scheme. I presume they have to go the extra mile to get the extra payment. That seems to be the incentive base, which is why the scheme is so successful. It is in the farmers' own interests. Ownership is left with the farmer and they grow in stature on that basis.

Senator Comiskey asked about commonage, which is exactly what I was thinking. Is there an element of commonage in the Burren land or is it mainly owned by individual farmers? I am thinking of how the project could be rolled out further. In my own constituency of Kildare South we have the plains of the Curragh, which is a huge resource. It has huge potential for tourism, recreation for local residents and farming. It is used by the equine industry and is a key component of the work of the Department of Defence. However, because we have so many stakeholders, we have many problems. A project such as the Burren conservation programme is exactly what we need for the Curragh. We need a structure that can bring all our stakeholders together and a mechanism to encourage them to protect and enhance what we have. If that takes a little money then so be it. The two situations are not exactly comparable but I am sure there are synergies we could look at.