Mr. Colm O'Donnell:

I thank the Chairman. I offer the apologies of our vice president, Mr. Henry O'Donnell, who could not attend the meeting. As the national president of the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association, and on behalf of the farmers it represents, Mr. Joe Condon and I wish to make a number of observations and recommendations on the decisions taken by the Houses of the Oireachtas to introduce on a pilot basis legislation to extend the Wildlife Act 1976. The amendments appear in section 3, and refer to controlled burning in March and the maintenance of hedgerows in August.

As custodians of the countryside, we endeavour to farm our lands in an environmentally friendly way and to do that requires an understanding by all stakeholders, including legislators, of ongoing difficulties experienced on the ground particularly the challenges of calendar farming that into the future will no doubt necessitate continued monitoring by everyone.

Amendment 8(1) to extend the burning date to include the month of March is a necessary and practical proposal and brings the burning season closer in line with our nearest neighbours. In Northern Ireland the burning dates are from 1 September to 14 April; in Scotland they are from 1 October to 15 April; in England they are from 1 October to15 April; and in Wales they are, likewise, from 1 October to 31 March.

In my younger days it was traditional good practice to burn during the month of March, when ground conditions were drying out sufficiently to carry out a controlled burn of areas of mature vegetation earmarked for rejuvenation. Controlled burning of mature upland vegetation is an accepted agricultural activity in maintaining an agricultural area in a state suitable for grazing or cultivation, in the same way that fallow land is eligible in arable land and lowland that has been burnt off with glysophate. The guidelines for glysophate is to allow two weeks before cultivation which is about the same length of time it takes for burned land to begin to rejuvenate.

In the introduction, I made reference to the challenges of calendar farming and there is little doubt that the weather pattern of our seasons is changing. For the last 15 years the only two years that were suitable for a controlled burn within the existing burning dates were 2003 and 2013. I carried out a successful burn on both occasions having gained permission from the relevant authorities. If this weather trend were to continue or to worsen, then the reality is that there may not be an opportunity to carry out a controlled burn before 2030. The inability of landowners to manage these areas on an annual basis has led to uncontrolled wild fires during the closed season which is both an ecological and environmental disaster, destroying the breeding season of ground nesting birds and exposure of innocent landowners to cuts in farm payments. A number of questions need to be answered during this session. Have numbers of ground nesting bird populations increased since the Wildlife Act 1976 excluded the month of March for burning or have they declined? Why have farm payments been withheld from innocent farmers who had lands burned in 2017 beyond their control and without their knowledge? That is happening as we speak.

While I understand that any further extension to the two-year trial period would need approval by both Houses of the Oireachtas, continued monitoring at farm level needs to be documented. The INHFA suggest that moving the dates closer to those of our nearest neighbours is sensible. As a practical solution that would include leaving the month of September closed for burning and including the month of March. Invariably, the month of September is not suitable for burning. There is too much green and too much growth in September. Moving the entire calendar by a month could be a sensible proposal going forward, in line with 1 October to 31 March. Also, it would be a help if this committee would advise the competent authority, namely, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, DAFM, that no administrative penalty shall be imposed on farmer applicants to schemes where the applicants can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the competent authority, the DAFM, that they are not at fault for the non-compliance or where the competent authority is satisfied that the persons concerned are not at fault in a situation where lands are burned on an applicant without their knowledge or consent. We received a number of calls to our national office from farmers who have received no payments because their lands were burned without their knowledge. Something must be done urgently for them.

The inclusion of the month of August for hedge cutting, again needs close monitoring to ensure that both the wildlife contained within our precious hedgerows are preserved while catering for the concerns of the landowner. Again, changing weather conditions and its effect on our seasons is influencing breeding patterns for occupiers of our hedgerows but also affects the farmers' ability to carry out routine hedgerow maintenance.

In 2017 the month of September proved too wet for many landowners to carry heavy hedge cutting machinery and risked soil erosion and compaction of the soil. The situation has not improved since with heavy rainfall still the dominant weather pattern. My experience is that where hedgerows are maintained on an annual basis it can be done without disturbance to the wildlife contained within the heart of the hedge as cutting is a manicure of the annual growth, that is, it only involves cutting the sides and top of the hedge. Overgrown, badly maintained hedgerows will benefit from August cutting, where it may require three or four runs of the hedge cutter to get it under control. In such cases ground conditions are more suitable earlier in the autumn.

The INHFA proposes that during future discussion on whether the month of August would be part of an extension to legislation it should look at a compromise solution to ensure all aspects are considered. Part of that compromise could be to include the dates from 1 August to 15 August as closed season, thus giving the first 15 days of August as a timeframe for any delayed breeding within the hedgerows to fledge. Opening up the hedge cutting season from the 16 August onwards would allow the landowner the opportunity to carry out remedial works while weather conditions are favourable. As has been pointed out, once 15 August arrives things start to deteriorate. Thank you, Chairman. We look forward to being involved in the discussion.