Results 7,341-7,360 of 7,789 for speaker:Michael Fitzmaurice

Other Questions: Turf Cutting Restrictions (30 Apr 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I say that on the basis of the reply read by the Minister. We established earlier that while these areas might have legal importance, they are not yet special areas of conservation. I urge people to stop using the phrase "special areas of conservation" in this context because it is misleading.

Other Questions: Turf Cutting Restrictions (30 Apr 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: It seems from the Minister's reply that one's right to cut turf on a blanket bog will depend on where one is in Ireland. If one is lucky enough, one may be able to cut turf. If one is unlucky and the blanket bog is in one of the sensitive areas about which the Minister is talking - it could be any bog in any county in any part of Ireland - one may face restrictions. Would it be fair to say...

Other Questions: Turf Cutting Restrictions (30 Apr 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I did not say we do not.

Other Questions: Turf Cutting Restrictions (30 Apr 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I welcome what the Minister has said and I fully agree with her. As we have always said, there can be conservation while people make use of things in different parts of the country. There is no reason people cannot work together constructively. I often saw in Connemara that the biggest attraction for a busload of people might be to look at a fellow cutting a few sods with a sleá....

Other Questions: Turf Cutting Restrictions (30 Apr 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Yes. I agree with the point made by the Minister when she spoke about finding archaeological evidence of roads, etc. Those who have worked on the bogs down through the years need a bit of clarity. I welcome what the Minister has said about trying to work constructively with people so that they can cut their turf on these blanket bogs while also preserving these locations. The final...

Other Questions: Special Areas of Conservation Designation (30 Apr 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I have a good background in the whole designation process. I did not ask that question. The Minister talks about sites of community importance, SCIs, but from what she has said I take it there are no special areas of conservation, SACs in Ireland. There are SCIs with legal protection but I am asking are there or are there not SACs, legally designated, in Ireland? From that answer I...

Other Questions: Special Areas of Conservation Designation (30 Apr 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I asked a question.

Other Questions: Special Areas of Conservation Designation (30 Apr 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: There are none at the moment in Ireland.

Other Questions: Special Areas of Conservation Designation (30 Apr 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I am trying to establish that, until this legal technicality the Minister is going on about is done, there is no SAC in Ireland. She is making clear that the legal technicality has to be done. I question other things the Minister said because there were certain time limits for it to be done but I understand what she has said and I thank her.

Other Questions: Special Areas of Conservation Designation (30 Apr 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I gather from what the Minister is saying that until that other process has gone through people may talk about SACs but they do not exist. There are other legal terms but until this legal process the Minister is talking about has been done, people are using the wrong word.

Other Questions: Special Areas of Conservation Designation (30 Apr 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: They do not.

Other Questions: Special Areas of Conservation Designation (30 Apr 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: The term SAC does not exist. That is all I am asking about. The Minister may call them SCIs or whatever under legal protection but SACs will not exist until that bit of tweaking has been done.

Other Questions: Special Areas of Conservation Designation (30 Apr 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: 6. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will state categorically on the record of Dáil Éireann that properly constituted special areas of conservation exist today; if she will identify on the record for Dáil Éireann one such properly-constituted special area of conservation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16847/15]

Other Questions: Special Areas of Conservation Designation (30 Apr 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I have searched in a legal sense and in all the official books in Ireland that tell us these things. For the record of the Dáil, SACs, special areas of conservation - I am not referring to candidate special areas of conservation, cSACs, or sites of community importance, SCIs, but SACs - do exist in Ireland. Will the Minister make a statement on the matter?

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Special Protection Areas Designation (30 Apr 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Whoever wrote that response does not understand what is going on around Ireland. When land is designated, people almost have to emigrate from the area because they cannot make a drain or plant the land if they are going to abide by these so-called laws. People are being forced out. In Ireland, if something is seen on someone's land, what was seen or the person who owns the land will...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Special Protection Areas Designation (30 Apr 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Since 2010, there has been no scheme in the Department. There is no scheme at the moment. It is suggested that farmers in designated areas get priority but if I sow wild bird cover I can get priority. If I have the best land in Ireland, even if it is not designated, I will get priority. Let us not spin this to people that they are special and lead them astray. Organic farmers with a...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Special Protection Areas Designation (30 Apr 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: It is because of civil servants.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Special Protection Areas Designation (30 Apr 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Three weeks ago, in Athlone, I met senior people from the Minister's Department but they have not liaised with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. If I have land that is not designated and I am involved in organic farming, I get the same priority as if all my land is designated. I know the Minister is from a farming background and most of us understand the scenario. If we...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Special Protection Areas Designation (30 Apr 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: 3. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she has sought and secured adequate funding to provide a package of compensation measures to farmers whose farms have been rendered valueless and whose livelihoods have been destroyed as a result of special protection area designations imposed by her Department in respect of the hen harrier; and if she will make a statement on the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Special Protection Areas Designation (30 Apr 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Over the past few months it has come to light that farmers in so-called protected areas have had their payments cut, be they SPA, SAC or NHA payments. What is the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht doing in this regard and what compensation package is being put in place for farmers who have lost their single farm payments?