Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The roadside hedges should be cut all year round and priority must be given to the people travelling the roads over the birds. No bird is so stupid as to make a nest outside the ditch anywhere along the side of the road. I totally agree about the greenway routes. I am very disappointed with the route taken by our local authority in the way it has gone about it - there should have been agreement with all the landowners. That could have been achieved. Agreement with the landowners is the way to go and agreement can be reached.

There is no grant for forestry for marginal land. A person has to have 80% of green ground before they will get a grant to plant. In any land holding in Kerry it is the other way around - 20% of green ground versus 80% of marginal ground - so there is no planting going on there now because it is not attractive for farmers to do so. That needs to be addressed. It was changed a number of years ago and there has been no planting since on marginal ground. I have been asked a lot about when farmers got the grants for planting forestry and they were told it was going to be tax-free. Now the USC charges are being applied to it. That issue also needs to be addressed because if you make a deal with a man you must stand to your word and that is not what has happened in this case. The Government has broken its word.