Mr. Paud Evans:

The provision in the booklet and in the system for Natura land is very important for Natura farmers. As we stated in our document, and as Dr. Smyth said at the start of the meeting, giving a right to a payment means the land appeared on an application form in 2008, the year in which the provision was introduced as part of the CAP health check, it was declared by the farmer as eligible in 2008, and the farmer received a single payment scheme, SPS, payment. It does not necessarily mean the farmer received the payment for that land. The farmer could have declared 100 ha and had only 60 entitlements. This means the land can come into the system for payment purposes. It is associated with a designation. Deputy Fitzmaurice made a very good point about a farmer not being allowed to put a drain in the land, in which case the scrub will spread because of the designation. There are very clear-cut rules regarding this. We can continue to pay on ineligible land in Natura areas under these rules. Deputy Kyne asked what we mean by "ineligible". Ineligible land is scrub and is ineligible under the scheme but is eligible for payment. These are very important points for Natura farmers.