Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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142. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the number of turf cutters who have made application under the cessation of turf cutting compensation scheme for raised bog special areas of conservation; the number of applications that were successful; the numbers that were not successful; and the number pending; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5530/15]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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3,057 applications under the cessation of turf cutting compensation scheme for raised bog special areas of conservation have been received and acknowledged by my Department to date. A total of 6,437 payments and 650 turf deliveries 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. This equates to some 2,300 individual applicants having received payments under the scheme thus far.

The qualifying criteria for the scheme are that:

- The claimant must have a legal interest in one of the raised bog special areas of conservation – ownership or turbary right;

- The claimant must have been the owner or entitled to exercise turbary rights on the land in question on 25 May 2010;

- The turbary on the site must not be exhausted;

- The claimant must have been cutting turf on the land in question during the relevant five year period; and

- No turf cutting or associated activity is ongoing on the property.

I am advised that, at this stage, 138 applicants from raised bog special areas of conservation have been informed by my Department that they do not fulfil the qualifying criteria of the scheme.

While it may be anticipated that there will be further instances where applicants will be informed that they do not fulfil the qualifying criteria, current priority is being given to providing payments to those who clearly appear to fulfil the criteria on the basis of the information they have provided. In addition, establishing ownership rights is particularly complex and my Department is working with owners of land and turbary right holders to assist them in this regard.

A number of applicants are not being provided with compensation under the scheme as the areas on which they have been cutting turf are not within one of the designated sites.