Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I will ask a few questions together as I want to let other members in. The witnesses talked about the importance of cattle not going where the roots of the trees are, especially around ditches. The clay in ditches will move down in soft weather and expose the root of a whitethorn. Would the witnesses recommend that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine help farmers fence on both sides with a grant or such to protect both sides? It is important to talk to farmers, not at them or down to them. We need to respect that we are dealing with their ground and give them the required respect. There are farmers who want to get the whitethorn hedges, to save on fencing in many cases, if it functions properly. The witnesses talked about lining fences with them. We have to think of roads and road safety too, as Senator Paul Daly said. The sides have to be trimmed or a hedgerow will come out into the middle of the road. What is the witnesses' view on handling that land?

The contractor going along has mirrors and the worst thing that could happen is a bramble catching one of them. Everyone wants to have these. Farmers will buy into this and into the eco-scheme in the line of sowing more hedgerows. We need to work with them to make it workable and ensure it is not affecting or hammering them. What are the witnesses' views on the maintenance side of it?