Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will be very frank. Ongoing eligibility checks are carried out. I had a RAPID field inspection last year. One is just a random herd number and one is subjected to inspections on an ongoing basis. The inspectors will be here and because the issue is so high profile, they will be all over it.

In many ways, the Garda or the NPWS determine guilt or innocence in the first instance. If an individual is subject to a follow-through and determined to not have been culpable, the first box is ticked and it is accepted that he or she was not responsible. There is a lot of investigation involved. In the context of the massive fire that occurred in the Deputy's part of the country, there is the question of where it started. It is obvious that, as it blazed through, people had no control over whether it affected their property, commonage or anything else. There were four houses under significant threat.

On the question of eligibility and fast regrowth, 31 May is the date that has to be considered. One must comfortably establish in one's own mind that one was not culpable in respect of starting the fire. These are taken on a case-by-case basis. Each individual must determine if it is green. I know the uplands. We are trying to put a vegetation management plan in place to manage uplands. It will be controlled and managed and will incorporate controlled burning on a managed basis every year, not just in one year. If a person is comfortable that the land will be eligible on 31 May, it might be subject to an on-site inspection. It probably will be subject to such an inspection in any event. If it is deemed to be grazing or forage land, it is taken on a case-by-case basis.

There was a third question.

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