Dr. Alan Moore:

On the last question, I will turn to Mr. Hickey and Mr. Sheehan as practising farmers. On Deputy Leddin's question, the benefits of hedgerows have been well described in the meeting so far and there seems to be unanimity of agreement that hedgerows provide a huge range of services. We feel among friends and there is no dispute about the value of hedges.

On the value of old versus new, there has been discussion about the 20 to 50 years it takes for a new hedge to achieve the benefits of an old hedge. The question was asked about the new hedges under cross-compliance and where they are. It is a good question. There has not been the follow-up or oversight of where those new hedges are and what is in them. The multispecies issue is a big one. There is no dispute among any of the experts that existing hedgerows are better. We have a huge network. They are being destroyed, unfortunately, at an alarming rate. We have this asset but it is disappearing. The EIA regulations are not fit for purpose and I do not think even the Department believes they are. That and the lack of legal protection are two issues on which we would love to get the committee's support and knock heads together to see how we could prevent further destruction.