John Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The reason I focused so much on the stakeholder forum in the first round was the very one just outlined, because it is a case of all parties working together, including the agriculture community, those who enjoy the outdoors and country pursuits, and environmental NGOs. All have a role to play in protecting and enhancing our environment. I love the outdoors, was involved in the scouts when I was younger, have hiked all the peaks of Ireland, been to four of the six national parks and have a geography degree, so I am somebody who understands these issues; however, I equally understand that we have to bring people with us. The hearts-and-minds aspect mentioned is probably the most important one because, without the buy-in of all stakeholders, we will not get very far with the work being done.

We can put sanctions in place and use the stick approach but it is always the carrot and working together that bring people along with us. That is why I do not like it when the debate descends into one that requires a one given approach or nothing. Incremental improvements across the board in relevant areas are what will get us to where we need to be. Of course, we would love to go from here to where we want to go but we cannot do so without going up the steps and bringing people along with us. That is the background.

I have a few questions. I am from Waterford and I hold dear the Comeragh Mountains. Waterford has a strong agricultural community, particularly of sheep farmers, and we all know of Comeragh Mountains lamb. One of the bones of contention in the Comeragh Mountains is controlled burning. I refer to "controlled" burning for a reason because it is an integral part of ensuring our upland areas are maintained. The people who know the areas best are those who manage them, and they would say controlled burning brings on an area over time. The science on the burning season, on which I may be corrected if I am wrong, requires no burning from 1 March to 31 August. Could the guests talk to me about that and about controlled burning and its importance? I am not talking about uncontrolled burning because nobody can stand over that. There is a difficulty in that uncontrolled burning can happen in upland areas through no fault of the farmers. Somebody might light a fire to cook and it will take off. We have seen that farmers have been penalised for this, notwithstanding that they had nothing to do with it. Perhaps the guests could comment on that.