Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am trying to be, but I am also trying to be clear about what exactly I am saying. The real problem is that there are well funded and powerful ecological groups. It is similar to the problem encountered with hillwalking, where a hillwalker would not win a court case after breaking his or her neck have fallen on a slippery rock that had been there since Adam and Eve. However, the landowner might have to defend a case that he or she would inevitably win but which would take up a year or two of his or her life, not to mention the worry, the concern, the need to pay barristers and so on. Similarly, in this case I foresee that if people start to cut hedges under the qualified exemptions for which the Minister has provided - a person would have to prove in each individual case that it was justified - many farmers will be afraid of litigation and say that while a road is dangerous, they will not take the risk and cut the hedge.

Since many farmers with small landholdings do not have agricultural machinery, hedgecutting is done by the county council. Galway County Council is strong on this issue, as the Minister of State can explain to the Minister. Whatever chance an individual might have of getting away with cutting a hedge and not having a voluntary group taking him or her to court, the reality is that councils will not take the chance when commissioning cutting. If Galway County Council was to use all of the regulations the Minister has given us with the exemptions and decide to start cutting hedges on all of the twisty roads that are dangerous - there are few straight roads where we live - it would quickly receive a writ.

The theory of that is fine. The practice is non-applicable and, therefore, it does not hold up.

Can I also say-----