Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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380. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the reason Ireland has the very restrictive red zones on hen harrier-designated land when other EU countries do not in view of the fact that this is having a negative impact on the development of nursery businesses and the resultant loss of opportunity for job creation in these businesses; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11456/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The term “red zone” or “red area” refers to afforested areas in Special Protection Areas where procedures are put in place to minimise the impact of forestry management on likely nesting areas of the hen harrier. The procedure is set out in Appendix 21 of the Forestry Standards Manual, published in November 2015 by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

Both Departments are committed to continue to seek further refinements to the process in order to improve its effectiveness and to reduce the burden on forest owners.

As this concerns management of existing forests, it is not directly related to the nursery business.