Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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576. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government when the hen harrier threat response plan will be published; the reason for the long delay in the publication of the plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30689/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The final meetings of the inter-departmental group to review the draft Hen Harrier Threat Response Plan took place recently. Revisions have been made to the draft Plan to reflect the outcome of these meetings and it will be published shortly.

The process has taken longer than expected due to the requisite widespread consultation with stakeholders and the complexity of the issues to be addressed.

The draft Plan, when published, will require Strategic Environmental Assessment to be carried out before a final version of the Plan is made available.

In the interim the EIP Hen Harrier Project operated by the Department of Agriculture has been extremely effective and has been availed of by high numbers of farmers.