Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am well aware of the laws of the land on hedge cutting. The county council can give a felling notice to the landowner but the county council has primary responsibility for the verges and the sides of the roads, and it will not cut them. Worse than that, it is not allowed cut them because of the Wildlife Act. I am talking about the safety of motorists and, above all, the safety of cyclists and passengers. This is not just about penalty points because everybody has to be looked after. We have to look after the cyclists, the motorists and the farmers and contractors trying to exit from their land or businesses. They have huge insurance costs. If there is no visibility, nobody is wrong, but somebody could be killed, maimed or seriously injured.

This is very important to rural people, as the Minister knows. The school buses cannot get up and down the roads. We also see the state of the roads, with drivers driving on the wrong side of the road to avoid potholes and to keep some semblance of their chassis and the undercarriage of their car together-----

See this speech in context