Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

If someone is unfortunate enough to own some land in a special area of conservation, most of which is bad and very heavy in nature, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine will ask why he or she has not cut the rushes or done this or that. If his or her defence is that the National Parks and Wildlife Service has told him or her to protect the habitat of the hen harrier, the Department will slap a penalty on him or her. The European Commission told us in Brussels as recently as six months ago that no farmer should be penalised for practices on his or her lands put in place for the protection of habitats. That is not happening in Ireland. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is penalising farmers where habitats have been imposed on them.