Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)

I thank Deputy Ó Cuív for raising this matter. I am very familiar with this issue. I have met the IFA and groups of farmers from Connemara, Nephin and other parts of that region on a number of occasions in the past year.

Many commonages in the west were subjected to serious sheep over-grazing in the 1980s and into the 1990s, to such an extent that Ireland was brought to the European Court of Justice in June 2002. The court found that Ireland was in breach of the EU birds directive by permitting the deterioration of habitats of the red grouse and the State was obliged to take measures to resolve the effects of over-grazing.

The then Department of Agriculture and Food and the National Parks and Wildlife Service, which is now in my Department, co-ordinated a national survey of commonages to evaluate the condition of each commonage and to prescribe destocking where necessary. This survey was commenced in 1999 and the results and the required destocking were communicated to all shareholders in October 2002. The two Departments are currently carrying out a re-assessment of the commonages and it appears that substantial recovery has been delivered. However, there has been only limited recovery in the Twelve Bens-Garraun and Maamturk mountains special areas of conservation, SACs, in County Galway and the Owenduff-Nephin special protection area, SPA, in County Mayo. Therefore, some continuing restrictions are necessary in these areas until there is a significant recovery of the vegetation.

It is expected that all interventions in Mayo and Galway can end in November 2013 and cross-compliance norms will apply thereafter. In the Twelve Bens-Garraun and Maamturk mountains SACs, my Department is making top-up payments to REPS and AEOS farmers for these additional restrictions. These payments are designed to compensate farmers for losses arising from the necessary destocking and off-wintering of livestock. In the Owenduff-Nephin area, it was necessary to extend restrictions partially for a further two years to repair the vegetation where recovery had not been fully delivered.

In 2011, the National Parks and Wildlife Service made payments to farmers in these two areas of Galway and Mayo to the amount of €1.55 million. This was in addition to moneys paid by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine under existing REPS or AEOS contracts and single payment scheme. The payments made by my Department come exclusively from the national Exchequer and would not be necessary if the land was in good environmental condition. My Department is aware of the threat posed by under-grazing which can lead to increased growth and may pose a fire risk as well as reduced habitat quality. However, in the case of commonages in the Twelve Bens-Garraun and Maamturk mountains SACs, this risk is not deemed to be significant.

An essential component of the grazing package is that farmers must maintain sustainable stock numbers on the hill through their participation in a farm plan. There are no indications to date of any concerns in relation to compliance with this requirement. A review will be held in 2013 of the effect of the interventions and it is likely that stock numbers may then be allowed to increase.

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