Paul Connaughton (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I understand this, but a concern for many landowners throughout the country who are affected is that the designation means their land has been rendered valueless. People want to use their land as collateral but the banks refuse because they know the owners cannot do anything with the land and it is not worth anything to them. It cannot be farmed and it cannot be sold because of the designation. The Department has always attempted to compensate, but it is running out of funding because there are so many designation programmes. What is Europe's role? From an environmental perspective, one will not find people more willing to protect their environment than landowners. In many cases, particularly with regard to the younger farming community, it is a very bitter pill to be told by the Department to protect an area but to be told also that it cannot afford to pay them any more compensation. I am trying to understand the connection between the Department, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Europe when it comes to solving this. All of these designations arrive at one go. In certain parts of the country one might be caught with three or four of them. I know this is a hard question to answer, but what does the future hold? All of these problems are cropping up now and they will not go away. Could Europe be doing more from a funding perspective? The Department certainly will not be able to cover all of the costs.