Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)

With the Leas-Cheann Comhairle's permission, I, too, wish to warmly congratulate Deputy Connick on his accession to the position of Minister of State. I wish him well and look forward to working with him.

I am disappointed with the Minister of State's response. If the scheme is designed with biodiversity in mind, will the Minister of State acknowledge that hedgerows in particular and road margins and the biodiversity within is being threatened by the illegal dumping of plastics, which, in turn, will have an effect on biodiversity over time? Will he also acknowledge that there could be an opportunity, through this scheme, for farmers to work in partnership with the local authorities to ensure drainage mechanisms are put in place? We could potentially have an arterial drainage type scheme at a local level and could also, by incentivising farmers to maintain the hedge rows, create from this some degree of income.

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