Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for bringing forward the Bill. There are certain aspects of it on which I would like further clarity but it is a move in the right direction and one we should have made long ago. That would have avoided a hell of a lot of issues we are dealing with today, including people being killed on roadsides by falling trees, as well as the problem of illegal burning that is not being properly controlled. The Bill goes some way toward tackling those issues, although it needs further clarity which will hopefully be delivered in the coming days.

As regards verge cutting, rural Ireland, and in particular a huge percentage of the area I represent in Cork South-West, is in a state of disarray in respect of overgrowth on roadsides. I put forward a motion to Cork County Council approximately two and a half years ago while I was a councillor that it would carry out a survey on overgrown trees on the roadside in west Cork. I am sad to say that survey never took place. We were lucky not to have experienced more damage about a month ago when there was a severe storm because everything I said at that time came true. We have a lot to commend the ESB for because if it was not for the ESB cables and poles holding up trees in west Cork there would have been a severe loss of life. We were lucky to have a very good radio station that warned people to stay inside. There were trees flying down onto roadsides left, right and centre during the storm, which had gusts of 191 km/h.

People, and Deputies in particular, in urban Ireland do not have a clue what is going on in rural Ireland. They go on about birds and bees but do not understand that the farmers of west Cork and Ireland protect our birds and bees to the best of our ability. Common sense has to come into play. It has not been in play in respect of verge cutting for many years. My worry is that verge cutting will be extended to August on a trial basis.

11 o’clock

There should be no trial basis. It is common sense to cut verges and I will prove it to the Minister. Fair play to Cork County Council - I give praise where praise is due - it has come up with a great verge cutting scheme in west Cork. It is a fabulous scheme, under which local communities can apply for funding to cut verges. In my proud community council area of Goleen every single community applied for a grant. Every community saw a need to do so as simply roads were closed. I received a call from a holiday maker in Goleen in July who asked: "In the name of God, what is wrong? I cannot go up my road. It is closed from both sides." Common sense should have been applied. There should have been no need to ring the local authority or fill in forms. Verges should be cut and clean and tidy. If they had been, there would have been no need for that gentleman to worry. Unfortunately, because of the system in place, we could not go near them and it was disappointing for me to have to tell him.

When grant application forms were put on the table, every community council, all of which have a lot of environmental protection thoughts on their minds, jumped at the opportunity because they knew that it was a necessity to apply. Communities in areas such as Lowertown, Toormore, Rathoora, Goleen and Cloghankilleen to Mizen Head and Crookhaven, as well as Caher, Letter and Arduslough applied for grant aid and thankfully received it. They are now cutting verges which should not be cut at all in November or December. They should have been cut two or three months ago when we had to protect the tourism industry. We have people renting cars who will not get back their deposit because cars are being torn asunder in visiting beautiful parts of the world. It is absolutely farcical.

This is a move in the right direction, but it should not be done on a trial basis. It should be simple and solid. We should cut verges because lives will be lost if they are not cut. It should come from the top in Dáil Éireann that every local authority should carry out a survey of trees growing along the roadside. There should be strict regulations such that every tree would be cut before people's lives were lost and they are being lost. People are worrying about the bringing forward of a drink driving Bill, but there is no such worry about those who are being killed or nearly killed or seriously injured by trees. Far more people are going to be hurt than as a result of the carry on with the drink driving Bill.

I will move on to another issue on which I seek clarity. It is the issue of burning. I am a farmer and met officials of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine in Portlaoise before I came a Deputy. I told them that they would be the cause of an inferno and they were. They fined farmers for having gorse on their farms. They fined them a sum of €5,000 and made the fines retrospective by four or five years. They are terrorising farmers. What can they do? They cannot leave the gorse or burn it because it is wet. There is no proper burning season. I am in discussions with the ICSA and the IFA to see if can we come up with some procedure as we cannot work within the system in place. Basically, farmers are being forced out of business. They will be fined out of business by the Department if they do not get rid of the gorse and they cannot burn it because there is no burning season.

We are lucky that Muintir na Tíre and Mr. Diarmuid Cronin are arranging for controlled burning. I hope that in the next few weeks all stakeholders will be around the table or rather on the ground and that there will be controlled burning, which I would welcome. However, the season must be extended. If it is, there will be legal burning. We must also stop blaming farmers. In 99% of cases, they are not to blame. In some cases, their land is being burned unbeknownst to them or the fire is spreading over the ditch from some other person's land. In a lot of cases, there is messing at the side of the road at night time. People get a thrill out of seeing the property of others burning.

It is fine to talk about burning; it sounds beautiful for those living in an urban area who look out and see the Luas and beautiful taxis. They will not have to worry about briars, bushes and trees. I am sorry, but we do. We are realists. I welcome the movement being made to provide for burning and verge cutting, but we need to go further. We need clarity. It is not good enough that it is being done on a trial basis. It has to be embedded in concrete. I welcome many aspects of the Bill and appreciate that the Minister is doing her best to adopt a common sense approach.

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