Solution sought for 169,000 hectares of hen harrier land

A practical and common sense solution to farmers’ financial loss due to lands being designated as special protection areas is being sought by TDs and senators on the Oireachtas joint committee for agriculture, food and the marine.

They will make a submission to the ministers for heritage and agriculture following meetings since last December in which the committee heard how designation of land under EU directives has dramatically devalued the land of about 4,000 farmers.

Committee chairman Andrew Doyle TD said: “The committee is acutely aware of the difficulties that many farmers have endured in light of the designation of 169,000 hectares of land to protect the hen harrier.

“With EU agriculture policy increasingly recognising the public good, the committee is concerned that farmers with these lands are being unduly penalised by policies to protect species such as the hen harrier.”

Last week, the agriculture committee heard about hen harrier designation losses from the Irish Farmers with Designated Land (IFDL) organisation.

IFDL chairman Liam O’Keeffe told the committee, “Today we have people who lost out on a payment of €13,000 or €14,000 a year for five years. We have even come across people who paid inheritance tax of €20,000 to €25,000 to inherit a property, and they now find their property is worth nothing, and they did not get the schemes they were promised.”

IFDL acting secretary Michael Cronin said: “Time is of the essence. This issue has been ongoing for almost seven years.”

Mr O’Keeffe said a threat response plan is assessing whether forestry, wind turbines or intensive farming has caused decline in hen harrier numbers.

“The plan is ongoing and seems to be a long way from finishing or producing results.”