Tom Barry (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have one comment on the GLAS scheme. Farmers are excluded on a practical level from entering GLAS in areas where there is no hen harrier but where there are forestry and wetlands, such as the Nagle Mountains where they are encroaching on productive wheat and grain lands. Will the witnesses look at this issue? The lands for which the designation has come into place has, for practical purposes, excluded these farmers from the scheme. I see that only three amendments are allowed per year but this should come under the minor amendments category as it is quite technical. Ironically, to preserve these birds these people will put in seven or eight acres of bird cover in these areas and there will be 0.4 acres of bird cover for every acre they have for them to qualify, which makes no commercial sense on our productive wheat lands.