Michael Kitt (Fianna Fail)

I have been approached by a number of individuals who are happy with the final deal on top-up grants and incentives allowing them to sell off bog plots and turbary rights. The deal amounts to €3,500 for the first acre and €3,000 for each subsequent acre. The only difficulty to arise is that others who had bogs designated in 1998 received £1,000. I understand they will now receive an extra €4,730 to bring them to a total of €6,000. However, one can see that those who received a maximum of €6,000 in 1998 are not as satisfied as those who benefited from the deal in July 2004 and feel hard done by. I can provide the Minister with their details. Some individuals were also told in writing that if the deal improved after 1998, they would receive the more favourable terms of €3,500 for the first acre and €3,000 for each subsequent one. I ask the Minister to review the situation as only a few people did not do as well in 1998 when the land was first designated. It should also be remembered they were the first to co-operate fully with Dúchas to sell off the bog.