Mr. Eddie Punch:

We want clarity so a farmer will know that hedge-cutting can be done in August without having to obtain permission and that kind of thing. The issue is that when it rains continuously for most of the autumn period, as occurred this year, much of the ground on which one must travel to cut hedges is simply too wet and soft to travel on. If we can get some of the hedge-cutting done in August, it will reduce the pressure on contractors. Most of the work is done by contractors. Cutting in August would make it more straightforward to get the work done in a timely fashion. Most of the contractors have several different contracting operations. If they take off the hedge-cutting machine in order to spread slurry, typically after 15 January, that is the end of hedge-cutting for them. Getting the work done is very much dependent on the availability of contractors. Farmers do not do the work on their own. This is about trying to ensure contractors have a reasonable period in which to do the work that needs to be done in any given county. When one is relying on contractors to get this kind of work done, it does not fit in easily with applications for exemptions. If the process is not straightforward, as we need it to be, the work does not get done.