Mr. Eddie Punch:

The issue is that farmers have found that when there are particular mechanisms, they are extremely bureaucratic and are not working in an overall sense.

Farmers in Ireland are very committed to hedgerow maintenance and as we have pointed out earlier on the number of hedgerows that have been planted by farmers which is under GLAS scheme and previously under the AEOS scheme is a testament to the fact that farmers want hedgerows as part of a diverse farming landscape. In fact it is fair to say that Irish farmers are streets ahead of their colleagues in many European countries. One can see that if one travels throughout other countries. We have a much more intricate pattern, a mosaic of hedgerows which is far in excess of what one would see in some of the other European countries. If we want this commitment of farmers to having more hedgerows rather than less, hedgerows have to work for farmers as well. That is why we are fully supportive of the laying of hedgerows. It is great work but it is time consuming and hard and it is expensive if one has to pay somebody to do it because it takes a while. In addition, once it has been done the hedge will have to be maintained.

Farmers do not cut all their hedges every year. There is no one asking for that. In fact, it is much better to cut on a rotational basis, perhaps once every three years or so. Many hedges do not get cut every year but that is good practice.

My association has much common ground with BirdWatch Ireland. Information on what happens in Britain, for example, is not strictly comparable with what happens here. The weather patterns are not strictly the same. The rainfall patterns in the west of Ireland are different from those in Leinster and, by extension, much different from those in Yorkshire and elsewhere in the United Kingdom. It is debatable, therefore, whether the comparisons are valid. In any event, the hedge-cutting restriction periods in the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland, are not the same as here.