Taoiseach must help solve land dispute, say farmers

Farmers' leaders yesterday called on the Taoiseach to intervene in the stand-off between land-owners and the Department of the Environment over the State's road-building programme.

Work on a number of bypasses and motorway schemes has been severely curtailed, sometimes for almost a year, as a result of the dispute over compensation between the Department and the land-owners.

Members of both the Irish Farmers' Association and the Irish Creamery and Milk Suppliers' Association have refused entry to road-planners, valuers and surveyors in protest at the State's use of compulsory purchase orders to acquire land and the level of compensation offered.

Yesterday Mr Pat O'Rourke of the ICMSA said he felt the talks had reached the stage where only "political clout at the highest level" could lead to resolution of the dispute. He called on the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, to become personally involved, saying that if he did so the remaining issues could be sorted out.

The Irish Times understands the Government is determined not to make changes to the compulsory purchase scheme, which has been tested in the courts on several occasions and is considered a vital tool in acquiring land in the State's interest.

Officials from the Department of the Environment recently told farmers that any alterations to the compulsory purchase scheme would have critical importance for the development of Luas and the proposed metro system, among other projects. The Department is proposing an extra "goodwill payment" based on a percentage of the agreed compensation for land, disturbance and severance.

Mr O'Rourke, said, however, that some acres were more important to a farmer than others, and payment per acre might not reflect this. He said a farmer might lose only two acres and so receive only small compensation, and the goodwill percentage would not add greatly to it. "But they may be the two acres between his milking parlour and his herd, so he really suffers," said Mr O'Rourke.

The land-owners and the Department have agreed on the appointment of a "liaison officer" who will help settle disputes locally. One sticking point has been the damage caused to grasslands by construction dust, which can put cattle off grazing in adjacent fields.

The Department maintained it could not pay compensation for fields adjacent to its land-take, but the liaison officer would ensure that dust and nuisance were kept to a minimum.

Mr O'Rourke said the term "market value" had to consider that the local authorities and the National Roads Authority were acquiring the land not for agricultural purposes but for development, and a pricing scale should reflect this.

On the prospect of an early solution, Mr O'Rourke said only intervention at the highest level would move the process on. "We have all stated our positions, and there is now no movement," he said. A Department spokesman declined to comment.