Dr. Aoibhinn N? Sh?illeabh?in:

Yes, we did have conversations about the matter. Hedgerows were emphasised as being the blood supply of the country, and something that we have unfortunately been losing and not protecting. What we have seen since our report was published is that the new Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, strategy is looking towards more supports for hedgerows, which is great to see.

The members of the assembly have recommended that a "new national strategy for the protection, maintenance, restoration and expansion of Ireland’s network of hedgerows must be developed." As soon as we got into a conversation about adaptive responses, people asked what would happen here or there. We, as an assembly, did not feel that we should be the ones to designate what should happen specifically in each area. Instead, we felt there should be a new national strategy.

With regard to hedgerows, we recommended that "Hedge management courses and certification should be reintroduced and it should be a requirement that all hedge cutting contractors and their employees complete such courses." As the Deputy has mentioned, we have lost our connection with hedgerows and no longer emphasise their importance. I assure her that they were a big part of our conversation. There is obviously a lot of great work going on with voluntary groups and the hedgerow societies. Farmers are doing great work on hedgerows on their own lands. The Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss asked that we develop something specifically for hedgerows and that we upskill people on the requirement to protect hedgerows as they are a key resource in Ireland.