Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I hear what Deputy Michael Healy-Rae is saying but I am not sure that I can give him the same comfort on hedges or comment with the same conviction that I can give to him on our determination to pursue the restoration of the LIS. This is because of the statutory provisions on landowners and occupiers. Section 70 of the Roads Act 1993 provides that landowners and occupiers of land must take all reasonable steps to ensure that trees, hedges and other vegetation growing on their land are not, or could not become, a danger to people using a public road and such growth does not obstruct or interfere with the safe use of a public road or the maintenance of a public road. Section 70(2) provides that if a tree, hedge or other vegetation is or could become a danger to those using or working on a public road, or obstructs or interferes with the safe use or maintenance of a public road, a road authority may serve a written notice on the owner or occupier of the land requiring action to be taken to removal the danger or potential danger within the period stated in the notice. Whereas the Government has a large amount of discretion on the LIS and what it produces after the capital review in the budget, it does not have the same discretion on hedges because of the statutory requirements.

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