Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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313. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the amount paid out under the turf cutting cessation scheme; the number of persons it has been paid to; the total amounts paid out in the respective counties; the amount that has been ring-fenced by her Department to ensure that the scheme can continue to pay out over a 15-year period; if the scheme is still open; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5203/15]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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To-date 3,057 applications for compensation under the cessation of turf cutting compensation scheme for raised bog special areas of conservation have been received and acknowledged by my Department. A total of 6,437 payments and 650 deliveries of turf have been made in respect of the applications received. In addition, 1,330 once-off incentive payments of €500 have been made to applicants who have signed and returned legal agreements under the scheme to my Department.Details of the expenditure under the scheme for these sites, grouped by county, are set out in Table 1 SACs below. The total expenditure amounts to over €11.6 million. This expenditure is comprised of amounts paid in respect of annual payments, turf deliveries and once-off incentive payments.

My Department estimates that in the region of 2,300 individual applicants have received payments under the scheme for raised bog special areas of conservation.

The cessation of turf cutting compensation scheme has been extended to land owners and turbary right holders affected by the restrictions on turf cutting in raised bog natural heritage areas. 164 applications have been received and payments have been made to 94 individual applicants at a cost of over €142,000. Details of the expenditure under the scheme for these sites, grouped by county, are set out in Table 2 NHAs below .

The closing date for the receipt of applications generally has passed for raised bog special area of conservation sites. However, my Department will continue to accept late applications under the scheme for the time being.

As domestic turf cutting may continue with my consent, as Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, until 1 January 2017, no closing date has been set for the receipt of applications for raised bog natural heritage area sites.

I have ensured that sufficient funds are available in relation to the operation of this scheme for this year. Funding for future years will be made available from the financial allocations to my Department.

Table 1 SACs