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

That is what we should be debating. Things change and move on. As Deputy Ó Cuív has said, we need to think about how the scheme will work for farmers so that we protect the ecology and provide income for rural people. I do not believe we would do that by extending the burning season, continuing with the current ecological approach, which sees all of uplands degraded; the National Parks and Wildlife Service do not have the proper resources. If the Government presented a Bill where one would resource the proper management of the 25,000 ha that are burned every year then the initiative would be credible. There is none of that. All there is a simple extension that will do nothing but harm.