Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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60. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government further to Parliamentary Question No. 299 of 4 October 2022, the number of applications to the NPWS farm plan scheme for each of the years 2017 to 2021 and to date in 2022 and the number of applications refused in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50581/22]

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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The number of valid applications made to the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) Farm Plan Scheme in each of the Years 2017 to 2022, inclusive, as well as the number of applications that were not selected for plan development is included in the table below. The NPWS prioritises the selection of lands that are in designated sites, including Special Areas of Conservation, Special Protection Areas and Natural Heritage Areas. Lands with species or habitats of conservation concern are also given priority. The NPWS pays for the development of the plans, which involves the input of the landowner in question. Applications that did not proceed to planning stage were generally those that were deemed more suited to other schemes, such as the Native Woodland Scheme or the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme.