Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This is an ongoing process about which I spoken to the Deputy on several occasions. This is a sensitive issue as there are thousands of commonages across the country. We have a new commonage framework programme that needs to be implemented in partnership with the farmers in question and the National Parks and Wildlife Service which has a role to ensure commonages are farmed appropriately. If they are overgrazed, stocking rates should be reduced, while if they are undergrazed, which is the case in respect of much commonage land, stocking rates need to be increased. The complication arises if multiple farmers are farming the same commonage as one then has to get agreement from a majority of them. If necessary, we will go commonage by commonage and sit down at local meetings to bring people on board with the scheme. Farmers will not receive an instruction on the programme from me by letter and it will not be introduced by enforcement. We have had 18 months of discussions to see how best we can do this with farming organisations and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to introduce the programme in as sensible and practical as a way to get the right result both for farmers and the environment. The Deputy will see a partnership between farming organisations and my Department to get it right.

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