Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his response and I note that he referred to the fact that a neighbour having a difficulty may apply to the court for an order and the courts may make an order as they see fit. Perhaps that is something that my constituent can follow up on in this particular case.

The mediation Bill will not deal with it to the degree that has been referred to here. I do not think it will deal fully with this particular situation. The Minister of State referred to the “high hedges” legislation in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. He said that we might not be able to implement this legislation here because of the significant resources that are required. Could he define exactly what he means by that? Local authorities are responsible for maintaining trees within their own areas. Perhaps the people who are involved in that work would be able to adjudicate where issues arise, particularly major issues like the case I outlined involving a 60 ft. tree that would cause significant damage if it was to fall down on a neighbour. Surely a local authority would be able to make adjudication in a fairly straightforward fashion having examined the tree in question.

On a related topic, residents consistently complain about local authorities and the length of time it takes for local authorities to cut down trees. In particular, I am informed by Fingal County Council that it is unable to prune or cut down trees because it does not have the available resources and that the tree in question will be listed in a future programme of works. This has been ongoing on a consistent basis. Local authorities have failed. They have not maintained their own stock of trees. In some instances, they have just planted the trees and left them. They have never pruned or maintained them down through the years. This causes much distress for residents as well.

Two areas need to be looked at. Local authorities must be serious about helping and adjudicating on situations where residents have concerns. They are very genuine concerns that are being raised with all Deputies in this House and this area must be looked at seriously by the Minister.

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