Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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185. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if a person who has ceased farming and who is the registered owner of lands that are subject to a special area of conservation is entitled to a compensation scheme; and if so, to whom do they apply to for this compensation. [23393/13]

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
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Under the European Communities (Birds and Natural Habitats) Regulations 2011, compensation is payable from my Department where a person has been refused consent by me for a prescribed activity within a European site that they have been undertaking in the five year period prior to the refusal.

My Department administers a small-scale farm plan scheme, which supports only active farmers in adopting appropriate management practices in areas nominated for designation. There is no funding scheme available from my Department for farmers or landowners who have ceased farming in a European site.

Most financial support for farmers, including payments in respect of farming within European sites, is made available through schemes operated by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.