by Alan Jacques
THE introduction of new supports for farmers in designated hen harrier areas will have significant benefit for several Limerick landowners.
This follows confirmation from Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney that he intends to introduce a further measure under the Locally Led Agri-Environment Scheme (LLAES) to cater for farmers who are restricted in the use of large tracts of land designated as protection areas for hen harriers.
Following on the Minister’s announcement, Limerick Fine TD Dan Neville has urged farmers in the designated areas to join the GLAS agri-environment scheme, the second tranche of which has now opened to applications.
“By joining GLAS now, farmers in hen harrier areas are assuring themselves of benefiting from the generous payments under that scheme. Farmers with large tracts of hen harrier designated land will then be eligible to also apply for the new LLAES measure when it is up and running,” Deputy Neville explained.
Minister Coveney has already provided for priority cases for farmers with hen harrier land under the Green Low Carbon Agri-Environment Scheme (GLAS) and those farmers could earn up to €7,000 a year through a combination of GLAS and GLAS Plus.
“If all eligible farmers applied, this would amount to more than €23 million a year for hen harrier actions alone in GLAS and GLAS Plus. The previous Farmland Birds Scheme was paying out around €1.5 million a year for all farmland birds. This is a major increase in public funding for this important conservation action being undertaken by farmers,” Deputy Neville explained.
Irish Farmers with Designated Land (IFDL) Chairman Liam O’Keeffe, described the announcement as a very positive development and said the new scheme will be very valuable to farmers who farm land designated for the protection of the hen harrier.
“There will be considerable work to be carried out by the Department in tandem with the farming community to make this a workable, accessible and fair scheme for all affected parties,” he said.
Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) rural development chairman Billy Gray also cautiously welcomed Minister Coveney’s update on the new scheme.
“The treatment of hen harrier farmers over the last few years has been a disgrace, we are prepared to give this process a chance but we are not accepting that this is the only solution,” he said.
