Dr. Kevin Smyth:

I agree with the Chairman that burning is part of the way of managing commonages, particularly when they have fallen into a severe state of disrepair and where there is a severe heather problem. Eight meetings on the commonages were held. The meeting at Maam Cross was especially fractious but many of the meetings went well from that point of view. The same issues came up and one of the issues, as was correctly mentioned by the Chairman, was that of burning. The National Parks and Wildlife service deals with the burning area. The question was raised as to whether it is possible to increase the window in terms of the dates, and that is an issue we have taken up with the National Parks Wildlife Service. I agree with the Chairman that there is a role there for controlled burning as part of commonage management plans, and it is something we have raised with the National Parks and Wildlife Service.