Paul Daly (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the guests this evening and I have a couple of brief questions to tease out some facts from the statement.

While I am a farmer and a farmer at heart, I do not want to come across as negative. I want to get to the kernel of the issue and get some more information. Depending on what one reads, we are talking about approximately 380,000 km, give or take, of hedgerow in the country. That amounts to 4% of the land. If that is turned into square kilometres, it is 690 sq. km. How does that compare with other countries? I drive in continental Europe a lot and I would not see a hedge on the side of the road at all. As I said, I am not trying to be anti-anything that was said here because I agree, we have issues when it comes to biodiversity. I accept what Mr. Sheehan is doing and what he said in that we are farmer bashing here. We have to remember that somebody preserved, is the custodian of, and cares for, albeit not to the standard the witnesses require, those 380,000 km. Perhaps I can be provided with a comparison, but I believe this is way ahead of the European norm. The farmers have within reason and without compensation, which I would welcome and is being sought, been the custodians of those hedgerows. Many of those hedgerows have survived. I do not want the message going out from this committee that we are knocking the farmers again for having gouged them all. Many hedgerows have survived, but perhaps not as much as the witnesses would like.

I have a couple of other questions on when surveys are done. In regard to sequestration value and the carbon storage value, how accurate is the science being used? When will we get a definitive figure? I refer to when we are calculating those figures and will use my own example. I built a house in rural Ireland on a site between a quarter to a half acre in size. It is nearly all shrubs, bushes and hedges. Is that taken into consideration when calculations are done? That half-acre site, rather than having cows or bulls on it, is literally green and if herself at home had her way, it would all be green. There are many houses around Ireland on quarter-acre or half-acre sites that are in complete greenery, other than the side of the house or the driveway. Do we consider that when we are doing our calculations? If that is a farmer's home, when the hedges around his fields or his paddocks are included, would he get credit for those around the half acre?

The setback between hedgerow and forestry was referred to. The Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, having gone through the Dáil, was before the Seanad yesterday. It will open up the positivity of planting up to 1 ha of riparian or agroforestry without licence. What role will that measure play? I need more information about the setbacks and how hedgerows affect forestry. From a hedgerow point of view, will it be more of a hindrance than a help to biodiversity and the environment? I would like that explained further.

In situations of hedge cutting and the open and closed season, the issue of roadside safety will always be raised. What is the solution to that issue? Those hedges have to be trimmed every year. How does one incorporate that from a safety point of view?