Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to take part in this debate, however late it is. I will disagree with my colleague, Deputy Fitzmaurice, in a few moments, much as I regret doing so.

The difficulty with the Bill is that the Minister is trying to do too much. I wish I could support the legislation but I cannot do so. Before zeroing in on one or two aspects of the Bill, I will return to the comments made by Deputy Fitzmaurice and one or two previous speakers. It is unacceptable to reduce this debate to differences between those who are educated and those who are not educated or to a rural versus urban issue. That is not the nature of this debate. I will have no part in a divide and conquer approach. The issue is not the right to cut hedges versus nesting birds or the need to maintain diversity. As with climate change, the issue involves every one of us. It is unfortunate, therefore, that a divide and conquer approach has been adopted and we are not discussing what is necessary to allow farmers and those with lands who need to cut hedges to be protected, while also protecting diversity.

I understand the consultation process, particularly in respect of sections 7 and 8, resulted in 188 submissions being made, the vast majority of which appealed to the Minister not to extend the cutting and burning season. I also understand the submission made by the Environmental Protection Agency called for more research to be undertaken. What is the point of engaging in consultation if one does not listen to the submissions made as part of the consultation process? If the vast majority of those who made submissions appealed to the Minister not to extend the burning and cutting season, why has she chosen to proceed with this measure and introduce an amendment in the Seanad which removed the oversight that was in place?

The proposed measures run counter to everything we are trying to do to mitigate climate change, create environmental sustainability and promote Ireland, particularly through Origin Green and the green image of our agriculture sector. It also undermines the message of the Wild Atlantic Way which Fáilte Ireland has spent a fortune promoting. It seems as if one part of the Government is doing one thing, while another part is doing something else and there is no connection between the two.

I have not seen in any of the documentation from the Government side a scientific basis for introducing the proposed changes in section 8. I choose my words carefully when I say these changes would seem to impact on Ireland's commitments under European Union regulations and do not appear to have been formally discussed with the relevant EU institutions. If they are introduced, there is no doubt they will place additional pressure on already threatened species. The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport has not carried out an assessment of their implications for road safety.

The proposed measure is described as a two-year pilot project. How can a measure that covers 26 counties, lasts for two years and for which no methodology has been provided or baseline data recorded, despite two years elapsing since the Bill was introduced, be described as a pilot project? Moreover, the National Parks and Wildlife Service is already at breaking point because it does not have sufficient staff and resources and no additional resources have been promised.

I am tempted to say it would be for the birds to proceed in the manner proposed because these measures go against practically all of the submissions made in the consultation process. They are not based on scientific knowledge because the clear message from the scientific evidence available to us is that they should not proceed. Britain, our nearest neighbour, has learned from its mistakes in this regard.

As someone who comes from Galway, I wish to respond to the Deputy Fitzmaurice's comments on recent fires. I am sure he did not intend to speak in the manner he did. I believe 3,500 ha., including bogland and forestry, have been-----

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