Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

In the designated areas there are a lot of restrictions on farmers, be it some of the mountains and even callows in the lowlands, where there is a designation under the so-called special areas of conservation, SACs, natural heritage areas, NHAs, special protection areas, SPAs, or whatever. Mr. Savage talked about the hen harriers. At the moment those farmers have to get approximately 36 consents to do anything on their land. They cannot, for example, farm more intensively in the field four miles down the road because of the restrictions of the designation on it.

We know that when sheep are taken off a mountain for, say, destocking, they will go for the sweet area and the other area will see more growth. This means that somebody from the Department will come out, measure the height of the scrub and say, "This was not eaten". To be blunt, it is more difficult farming. Is there any support for those who are unable to farm their land in the conventional way? That could be the position in one area and five miles down the road a guy who has 50 or 100 cows can farm away without any problem. My question is whether there is any tie-up with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, be it in Brussels or wherever, and in terms of the environment to make sure that those people are not driven off their lands because they cannot farm?