Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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239. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the schemes that were proposed under the Natura 2000 element of the rural development programme 2007-2013; the reason that there has only been a spend of €89,717,139 out of an allocation of €528,582998 to date; if he intends to spend the balance of the money provided under this heading and if not, if the money has been transferred to other programmes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23293/13]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Under the initial Financial Plan for the Rural Development Programme an indicative amount of €528m was allocated to Natura 2000. The Natura measure provides for compensation to farmers for disadvantages in their farming activities arising out of three Directives, the Habitats Directive, the Wild Birds Directive and the Water Framework Directive. Natura 2000 forms an integral part of the REPs and AEOS agri environment schemes and applicants with Natura designated land are prioritised under AEOS

Participation in agri environment schemes, including Natura, is voluntary on the part of farmers, and expenditure is therefore demand-led. Actual demand under this measure has proven to be significantly less than was provided for, with expenditure to date amounting to €89.7m. The financial provision for Natura is currently being revised to reflect actual spend to date and expected spend to the end of the Programme. This will involve a re allocation of funds across the agri environment and LFA schemes in Axis two of the Programme without changing the overall spend under this Axis.