State, IFA near deal on land for roads

The Government and the Irish Farmers' Association hope to conclude a deal on the State's road building programme as early as the end of next week, The Irish Times has been told.

Some 30 individual sections of the five proposed motorways from Dublin to the regions have been held up for four months and the delay is said to be costing the National Roads Authority some £1 (€1.269) million per week.

Farmers and other land owners have been withholding access to their lands, restricting the ability of local planners to progress schemes.

However, it is understood the heads of an agreement have been approved by the Department of Finance, the Attorney General and the Taoiseach. A draft document was delivered to the farmers' body late last week and the response was positive, according to sources.

The negotiations for the Government are being carried out by a team from the Department of the Environment and things are expected to progress rapidly once the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, returns from a visit to Marrakesh, Morocco, early next week.

While the details of the agreement are being withheld, it is believed the farmers have recognised the State's need to have a compulsory mechanism to acquire property.

A difficulty with regard to the taxation of compensation payment for farmers which had delayed the process has been resolved as part of the deal. Farmers had sought clarification that any money paid to them could be tax free if invested in any business. There had been suggestions that the money would only become tax-free if it was invested in the farm itself, but the Department of Finance was able to clarify this point to the farmers' satisfaction.

Farmers reject, however, the suggestion that they had been holding out for a completely tax-free payment and say such an issue was never on the table. Other issues understood to be addressed in the agreement include notification that land is being considered, the speed of the process and the speed of payment after resolution. Under the current system a local authority may notify a landowner that the land may be part of a compulsory purchase order thereby freezing the land from any future sale until the council has made up its mind about its needs. This process can take some years and when concluded the landowners may have to wait even longer for their compensation.

"The Government made it perfectly clear from day one that all governments in the western world had a system to acquire lands for its needs, but there were practicalities which we have ironed out in relation to notification, speed and payment," according to a source.

The National Roads Authority said it was unable to say what was the position as it was not a party to the negotiations. A spokesman warned, however, that some schemes would not be able to start up again until next spring, as aspects of some environmental impact assessments could not be carried out in winter.