Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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689. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the reason compensation was not paid to farmers in the Twelve Bens/Maam Turk complex between November 2012 and May 2013 despite the fact that the National Parks and Wildlife Service had entered into an agreement with these farmers to compensate them for destocking sheep and cattle from the hills in this area; the legal basis for reneging on this commitment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35451/13]

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
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Farmers in the Twelve Bens/Garraun and Maumturk Mountain Complex Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) have had to amend their farming practices since November 2008 to ensure that all these mountain areas recover from past overgrazing. This grazing restriction continues until November 2013. The affected farmers have received payments through agri-environment schemes (such as REPS, Agri-Environment Options Scheme (AEOS), from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and the National Parks and Wildlife Service farm plan scheme, operated by my Department) for loss of income arising from the prescribed restrictions. However, due to the breaks in the availability of REPS and AEOS schemes financial compensation has been a continuing issue since 2009.

To address this issue, in consultation with the farming organisations and local public representatives, my Department has offered eligible out-of-contract farmers compensation for continuing to honour their environmental commitments during those breaks.

In September 2011, I announced an interim compensation package for out-of-contract REPS farmers in these SACs whose plans were completed after the closing date for applications to AEOS 2 in May 2011. These payments of up to €4,000 per farmer ran until the 15^th May 2012.

In November 2012, I announced an extension to the interim compensation package to cover the period from May 16^th 2012 to November 30^th 2012, the closing date for AEOS 3 applications. Payment was based on the number of months that each farmer was out of contract in this period, equating to a pro-rata percentage of the AEOS 2012 financial package to a maximum of €4,000.

I have no plans to introduce further measures for farmers who have applied to join AEOS 3. Any issues relating to the acceptance into the AEOS 3 scheme or delayed payments should be addressed to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.