Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all of the Deputies who have participated in the debate. I congratulate Deputy Catherine Martin who spoke last night on her election as chairperson of the women's caucus.

I stress that the amendments to the Canals Act are primarily enabling provisions to allow Waterways Ireland to make by-laws to regulate boating on canals and manage their use. They were developed on the basis of legal advice to ensure the by-laws would be legally robust. The draft by-laws will be subject to public consultation for a period of up to 90 days and any person can submit objections to them. Waterways Ireland shall consider the objections and the consent of the Minister will have to be obtained for the by-laws which will be subject to review every five years and laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas.

This legislation and the by-laws that will emanate from it will enhance the ability of Waterways Ireland to manage the Royal Canal, the Grand Canal and the Barrow Navigation for the benefit of all of their users. Last night Deputy Niamh Smyth referred to the Ulster Canal. It is a priority for me and I am delighted that work has been well progressed on the first section of the canal, from Belturbet to Castle Saunderson where the bridge is almost complete. I am glad to see that the work is continuing apace.

Regarding hedge cutting and burning, a number of Deputies referred to the provisions in section 7 of the Bill. Deputies will be aware that an amendment was passed in Seanad Éireann to restrict the cutting of hedges in August to roadsides only. It is proposed to harmonise section 8 of the Bill with the provisions of the Roads Act on the cutting of hedgerows for road safety purposes. As I have stated, there is a conflict between the Roads Act and the Wildlife Act. The divergence of law between the two makes no sense. We must avoid confusion and inconsistency in order that the courts can interpret the law and deal with breaches of it. The provision included in section 8 has been designed to harmonise the two items of legislation, clear up any confusion and remove conflict.

Deputy Thomas Byrne has been misinformed. This is a complex issue, but I will try to explain it. We have the Roads Act, for which the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport is responsible. Under that Act, the owner or occupier of land shall take all reasonable steps to ensure a tree, shrub, hedge or other vegetation is not a hazard or potential hazard to persons using a public road and that it will not obstruct or interfere with the safe use or maintenance of a public road. He or she, therefore, is meant to take reasonable steps. On the other hand, the Wildlife Act states very clearly that a person cannot interfere with the hedges in the period referred to. The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport cannot amend the Wildlife Act which is the Act which prohibits hedge cutting along the roadside. It is my responsibility to amend it. Landowners were always permitted and even obliged under the Roads Act to cut hedges for the purposes of road safety. It is not correct for the Deputy to suggest there is somehow fraud involved in bringing the Wildlife Act into line with the Roads Act. That is unjustified.

This legislation is not about the widespread and heavy cutting of hedges. It will simply allow a person to trim a hedge in the month of August in certain instances only. In that regard, any trimming of hedges in August may only be of the current season's growth and may only be carried out along the roadside. This affects only a small percentage of the overall number of hedgerows in the country. If heavier cutting is required such as grubbing or flailing, it must be carried out during the current permitted period of September to the end of February.

They can continue to do so during the existing permitted period which runs from September to the end of February. This is a two-year pilot project. My Department will carry out studies to determine what effects, if any, emerge during this pilot phase. The expert advice of officials in the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, however, is that hedge-trimming of this nature in August is unlikely to have much of a direct impact because of the scale involved. This will be a managed and measured regime and will be subject to clear guidelines. It will strike an appropriate balance between protecting our wildlife and allowing for common sense trimming of hedges in certain instances only.

There has been a lot of misinformation and scaremongering about this Bill. This Bill will not make it compulsory for anybody to cut a hedge in August. If a hedge is blocking the view of road users, however, the landowner will now be able to trim back that hedge in August. This is a serious issue on local byroads in rural Ireland where hedges are growing out on the roads, damaging cars and restricting the views of motorists. There is of course a provision whereby local authorities can cut hedges in the interests of road safety but the reality is that local authorities simply do not have the manpower or the resources to be out on every byroad in the country inspecting and trimming hedges. Anybody living in rural Ireland will be aware of this. We cannot have a situation where cars are damaged and accidents caused because drivers cannot see around corners due to overgrown hedges. The proposal in the Heritage Bill 2016 represents a moderate and common sense solution to address this problem.

The curlew was mentioned. I have established a special curlew task force to examine what steps can be taken to support the native curlew, something that has been warmly welcomed by groups such as Birdwatch Ireland. Like many Deputies in this House, I too am from rural Ireland and I respect our farming community and its contribution to the local economy in rural areas. Our farmers are the custodians of our countryside and any suggestion that they are indifferent to our natural heritage and wildlife is complete nonsense. Farmers are not seeking to cause harm or damage. All they want is the flexibility to carry out their own work in a manner that also respects our biodiversity. Deputy Breathnach is right when he says that we need to strike a balance and that is what this Bill does.

With regard to the burning provisions, I echo the Deputies who condemned the spate of illegal burning in certain parts of the country during the spring and summer periods. There is a misconception, however, that this Bill will allow for the extension of the burning season into March and therefore allow all landowners to burn vegetation on any day during the month. I want to make it clear that the provision is not a blanket approval to allow indiscriminate burning of vegetation in March. This legislation, rather, will allow me to make regulations to allow burning in certain areas of the country, in a particular county or parts of a county, at specified periods in the month of March. I want to work with landowners in this respect. This Bill does not allow for widespread burning of vegetation. I also point out that in both Britain and in Northern Ireland the burning of vegetation is allowed up until the middle of April. What I am proposing, then, could not be considered an indiscriminate or unreasonable measure. The forthcoming regulations and best practice guidelines will provide guidance to landowners on a number of issues, including rotational burning; that species and habitat consideration should be to the fore in planned burning; and the need to liaise with relevant authorities and local fire service personnel. What is proposed here is, in essence, the potential extension by a maximum of four weeks to the period during which controlled and responsible burning may be carried out. This will be limited to particular areas and subject to statutory regulation. Such controlled land management activities in March have nothing at all to do with the kind of burning incidents we witnessed during the summer.

I note the contributions made by some Members on the impact of the burning and hedge-cutting provisions on bird life, especially on the nesting period for various species. I want to assure Members that the regulations that will be drafted to give effect to these provisions will take account of the nesting period as well as of our obligations under EU nature directives. Deputies Fitzmaurice and Michael Collins pointed out that we all depend on the people of rural Ireland to preserve our countryside and I agree with them on this. Like many other rural Deputies, we were reared in rural Ireland to respect our countryside and to look after it.

With regard to the Heritage Council, I stress that the changes mainly relate to governance procedures and have arisen as the result of a detailed review undertaken in 2012. I agree with Deputy O'Dowd that the Heritage Council and its local heritage officers have done great work in engaging with local communities and indeed, through the schools programme, with young people in order to encourage them to connect with and preserve our heritage.

Historic towns were also mentioned. In 2014 we ran a very successful pilot programme in three historic towns - Westport, Youghal and Listowel - in partnership with the Heritage Council and Fáilte Ireland. Beginning in 2018, we hope to roll this out to more towns in the coming years. I consider this very important.

I look forward to further constructive discussion and debate on the next Stage. Go raibh maith agaibh.

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