Mr. Colm O'Donnell:

I have a further comment on that. Each year when filling out the basic payment application form, one notes that the back page of the booklet states that if there is any doubt, one should not burn. I accept it is an offence to burn outside the allowed times. In circumstances such as those referred to by Mr. Fogarty, involving contacting An Taisce and BirdWatch Ireland, where is the farmer in all this? Should he not be part of that process? Surely to God he has a role to play.

We would definitely be open to the IFA suggestion to come up with some kind of proper scheme to manage burning whereby one single authority would be contacted.