Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

First, this is not a rural versus urban matter because there are uplands and hills in Dublin. I was involved in setting up the Dublin uplands management scheme so such management is an issue for people in Dublin as much as it is in County Kerry. I grew up in west Cork and spent time there with my grandparents who lived in the area. I have childhood memories of seeing gorse being burned on the hills near where they lived. However, one moves on and learns. I read the advice provided by Teagasc and the latest advice is not to burn gorse. Recently, I attended a meeting of the Wicklow Uplands Council. They are good people and they said that bracken must be burned due to all of the woody development. Again, the latest research from Teagasc is not to burn bracken. As the Minister has said, the provision relates to burning heather in uplands.