Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

At the outset the initial intention was that everything would be scored within the one commonage together and the turbary would be within that commonage as well. The concern was then expressed that this could lead to a disproportionate impact on the overall score and the payment to the farmer. I then intervened and the decision was made to extract and separate out turbary from the wider commonage and that it would be scored separately as a separate parcel as such. Up to that it was going to be incorporated into the wider commonage. After the implementation of that, working with my own team and the co-operation teams, the protocol was settled on and then the co-operation teams scored that based on the 100 m buffer, or less than that where there are natural breaks.

This has been brought to my attention in the past ten days with regard to the protocol and the potential impact. It is something I understand, particularly coming from Donegal. I am very much aware of this. This is why I am engaging with my team on it. It is against the backdrop of the scoring by the co-operation teams having taken place and having been submitted. Now that it has been brought to my attention, I am looking at it to fully assess it. I am very conscious of the issue.

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