Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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690. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if there will be a new scheme of destocking in the Twelve Bens/Maam Turk complex to replace the current scheme once the current scheme ends at the end of this year; the assessment that has been carried out by the National Parks and Wildlife Service on the effectiveness of the current scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35452/13]

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 these mountain/commonage areas recover from past overgrazing. This grazing restriction continues until November 2013 and will assist farmers in ensuring that their lands are deemed to be in Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC).

The affected farmers have received payments through agri-environment schemes such as REPS, Agri-Environment Options Scheme (AEOS), operated by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and the National Parks and Wildlife Service farm plan scheme, operated by this Department, for loss of income arising from the prescribed restrictions.

As part of the compensation package that was agreed in 2008, an additional annual payment of €2,000 over five years was to be paid by this department to those farmers who were in existing REPS contracts for the additional grazing restriction.

I have no plans to introduce any further Scheme following the ending of the grazing restriction in November 2013.

It is proposed to have an assessment of the effectiveness of the Scheme undertaken in 2014.