Killarney

By Sean Moriarty
<h3>Local farmers&rsquo; grants are being cut as a result of fires on their lands last April.</h3>
Kerry TD Michael Healy-Rae has hit out at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine after a number of farmers had payments reduced following a huge fire in Killarney National Park earlier this year.
 A Garda investigation revealed that the fire was started accidently in the National Park.
 It destroyed over 20,000 hectares of upland vegetation and it spread to adjoining farm lands before being brought under control.
 It is illegal to burn farm land between March 1 to August 31 and farmers who do so are subject to heavy penalties including a cut in funding from the Basic Payment Scheme.
 Healy-Rae said this was unfair on the farmers.
 &ldquo;I find it beyond belief that the Department of Agriculture is cutting those farmers of their farm payments saying that they have burnt ground, considering it was the State&rsquo;s land that the fire came out of, the farmers did their level best to fight the fire and to keep it out of their property, and now they are being hit with a financial penalty,&rdquo; he said.

Farmers penalised over National Park blaze

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