Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 63:

In page 14, line 34, after “destroyed” to insert the following:

“so far as it is reasonably practicable to do so”.

Section 15 deals with the control of species such as grey squirrels and rabbits where they pose a threat to forests and generally restates an existing provision in the Forestry Act 1946. It allows the Minister to serve a notice on a landowner requiring him or her to take specified action to protect trees from damage by vermin. Where land is unoccupied or the owner fails to comply with such notice, the Minister may authorise a person to enter the land and deal with the particular species. In the majority of cases landowners behave responsibly and do not need to be compelled to remove vermin from their land. The purpose of this provision is to deal with situations where either the owner does not co-operate or where the land is unoccupied.
A number of stakeholders have questioned the practicality of removing vermin and amendment No. 63, which inserts the words "so far as it is reasonably practicable to do so", is an acknowledgement of that difficulty. It is important that the power to remove vermin which present a threat to forestry remains within the legislation, but such power should also be reasonably applied and recognise the difficulties involved in removing the threat completely. The remaining amendments are technical changes designed to ensure the removal of protected species such as deer, which pose a threat to the forest, will be controlled in accordance with a licence granted by the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.