Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I invite members to indicate if they want to ask questions. As we have a fairly good turnout, I will be strict with the five-minute slots for members to ask questions and get answers. I encourage them not to delay in asking their questions and I will press the Minister on the time limits. If we have time, we will have a second and third round.

In the past few days, we have seen harrowing images of gorse fires burning across the landscape, particularly in the south and County Carlow. It is harrowing for members of the public to see this kind of destruction of the natural environment. It looks like there is a lot of uncontrolled burning. It brings to mind the practices we allow in this country with respect to managing the land. Are we going far enough? I have asked the Minister questions in the Dáil on the issue of hedgerows. We are losing approximately 3,000 km each year. They are being dug up and we see real butchery of our landscape. It seems that this practice is permitted by the environmental impact assessment, EIA, regulations, which allow anything under 500 m to be removed. The Minister indicated a willingness to examine this issue, which is a pressing one and a matter of serious concern to the public. I would like to hear a timeline for significant reform of our management of hedgerows. There is also a carbon sequestration element to this in respect of hedgerows, scrubland and peaty soils. Does the Minister have firm plans to revise the regulations around the EIA agriculture regulations, particularly with respect to hedgerows?