Dr. Daire Ó hUallacháin:

I will address an outstanding question asked by Deputy Ferris. He suggested that critical conservation would have an impact on the landowner, leading to the possibility of sterilising land. Ireland's biodiversity and variety of habitats are predominantly the result of centuries of agriculture. To maintain them, farmers must actively farm land. The Deputy was right that, to achieve this, farmers must be incentivised. It is encouraging that the proposed green low-carbon agri-environment scheme, GLAS, has prioritised habitats and species of high conservational concern. Hopefully, this will incentivise farmers to manage habitats actively.