Mr. Colm Hayes:

The Chairman is correct that there is no afforestation in hen harrier special protection areas, SPAs. That is because, as part of the state aid approval for our national forestry programme, afforestation is not permitted in those areas without, I believe, the express approval of the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS.

There is a larger issue, in that a national hen harrier threat response plan is under consideration. We are not the lead Department; the NPWS is. We have to await the outcome of that process. We are heavily engaged in it, but I do not want to prejudge its outcome because we are not the lead organisation. The Chairman has touched on much of what is in that discussion. It is never a black and white issue, as there is a great deal of nuance to the science in this area that will feature in the final version of the response plan. It is a question for the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.