Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We are talking about roadside verges. It is hugely important that people cut their verges in a rural community. We have many instances of people who are on holidays in particular having their rental cars scratched because we have not been able to cut the verges. I am a member of a community council in Goleen in west Cork. In fairness to the local authority, verge cutting grants have been made available by Cork County Council. It is a fabulous idea but, unfortunately, it should be available in May, June or July when people are driving around and getting their cars scratched and in danger of losing their lives, but it is only made available during the cutting season. I recently brought a number of application forms to a meeting and although there are many good people who are very worried about the environment on the community council, they snapped up the forms so that they could get their verges cut. The roadsides were in a diabolical state and they got them cut. The funny thing is that I have been coming up to Dublin for a year and a half and I see what happens on the motorway. The other day I thought I might not be coming anymore. The verges on the motorway are cut almost every hour. All the organisations that oppose verges being cut do not think it is any bother to cut them on the motorway even though they are further back from the roadside, yet when roadside verges are virtually shaking hands with each other in rural areas, there is complete opposition to them being cut.

I welcome the changes that are being made. Unfortunately, the extensions are not long enough. The cutting periods should be even longer, especially for roadside verges. I agree with Deputy Danny Healy-Rae that it is a different story inside the farm boundaries. We would have no issue with more care and attention being given there. We should be able to cut roadside verges 12 months of the year.

My views on burning by farmers are well known. Unfortunately, west Cork was an inferno this year and it affected a lot of wildlife. I attribute that to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. I am involved in a committee which is taking the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to court because of the massive fines it applied to farmers for having gorse on the land. The funny thing is that I heard nothing from the Irish Wildlife Trust or anyone else either about protecting the birds and the bees. The silence was deafening. No one was fighting for us when farmers were being fined up to €30,000 for having gorse on their land. One could not have a nicer thing on one's land. Some cattle walk around it and eat around it, yet all of a sudden we were deemed to be massive villains. I met with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine at the time in Portlaoise and said there would be an inferno in rural areas, and that it should wait and see what it would cause. Nobody gave a damn. Nobody stood up for us. We collected €80,000 to bring a case against the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Some farmers are going out of existence because of it and it has inflicted worry on their families.

Listening to the debate, it appears people are hoping to get a couple of more weeks out of it and we might get an opportunity to do what is being called a controlled burn. That is encouraging. Muintir na Tíre has pressed for that to happen. It is working with all farm organisations to see whether controlled burns can be carried out at different stages during the year while making sure that wildlife is protected. There was no voice in support of the ordinary farmer in rural Ireland when he was getting a fine of up to €30,000. No wildlife group spoke up. Many farmers are still not sure whether they will face massive fines. If some of the wildlife groups had their way, it would be a case of putting the gates up at Innishannon and turning it into "Jurassic Park". That is what they want to do. They want to close us up and simply have a park to visit where people can see beautiful birds and bees but the reality is that we have to live there too from day to day. If people living in Dublin city, for example, had verges closing in around them or the wildlife groups or the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine were putting them out of business for having a bit of gorse, they would be forced into a corner. When one is forced into a corner, one has to do something about it. One cannot just sit down and watch one's livelihood being lost. Everyone here should have a bit of understanding. The Minister shows understanding in the Bill. I do not think the Bill goes far enough but at least it is a move in the right direction. It still protects the wildlife to a degree and it gives landowners an opportunity to do so without the worry of massive fines hanging over their head and the people travelling on the roads to do so in safety.