Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if he will provide in tabular form by county the number of landowners whose land is designated as part of the hen harrier conservation programme; the numbers of landowners who are in receipt of compensation for this form of land designation under the national parks and wildlife farm plan scheme; the maximum, minimum and average payments made to landowners under this scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11805/13]

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
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My Department utilised the Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS), which is a database of claimants under the Single Payment Scheme supplied by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, for the identification and notification of possible landowners and users in the nine Hen Harrier Special Protection Areas (SPAs) advertised in November 2007. These nine SPA sites covered six counties and, where an individual had land in more than one site, this led to a duplication which altered the figures slightly. The figures in the table below indicate the total numbers of individuals notified, with a breakdown by site and county, as well as the adjusted figure where duplication has been identified.

My Department has administered a small-scale farm plan scheme using Exchequer funds, which has supported farmers in adopting appropriate management practices in the Hen Harrier SPAs. Due to budgetary constraints, the scheme is now closed to new applicants. The number of participants who are currently in receipt of payments under the farm plan scheme for the Hen Harrier is set out in the table below.

Payments under the farm plan scheme are based on eligible lands located within one of the Hen Harrier SPAs and those lands must be managed in accordance with the Hen Harrier prescription. Payments are made at the following rates:

- Eligible areas up to 40 hectares are paid at a rate of €350 per hectare.

- Eligible areas from 40 hectares to 120 hectares are paid at a rate of €25 per hectare.

- Eligible areas in excess of 120 hectares are paid at a rate of €5 per hectare.

The minimum amount received by a participant in the scheme was €293, while the maximum amount received was €16,054. The average payment per participant in the scheme is €7,801.