The €15m/annum payment proposed for farmers by the Department of Heritage for the administrative burden of designated land is “under discussion” at the Department.

The payment, revealed by the Irish Farmers Journal recently, was proposed in Ireland’s Prioritised Action Framework, a designated land plan with suggested schemes to conserve habitats and birds.

While the payment is under discussion, a source of funding for the payment has not been secured yet.

“A payment to farmers for administrative costs has been identified as worthwhile but a source of funding has not been secured, although the matter is under discussion,” a spokesperson for the Department told the Irish Farmers Journal.

The spokesperson said the framework is an important planning tool but not in itself a commitment to expenditure.

“The Department will work through the Government’s budgetary process, with other key departments, and seek to secure further funding under EU programmes such as LIFE, to deliver actions over the coming seven years to the fullest extent possible.”

It is not yet possible to say if all measures can be funded and operated, the spokesperson said.