Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

People need to understand that we have a managed landscape around this country. I hear people talking about farmers but farmers are brought up in nature. If a farmer causes destruction in his field, he pays for it as he will not receive any support from a State agency. Sometimes it is harrowing for farmers to hear people talk about what they do when those people only see an acre of land on a television programme or when they drive by it but they have never had to farm it, live on it, earn a living from it and rear a family. We need to be very conscious of that.

Deputy Ó Cuív, with whom I spoke about the Bill, will go discuss this point in more detail. Everybody should be aware that, under the Roads Act, farmers are obliged to maintain their hedges. If somebody gets hurt, the farmer is liable. I point that out in case Members were not aware of it. Everybody is talking about Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, local councils and others doing everything but if Members check the Roads Act 1993 it includes the wording "a tree, shrub, hedge or other vegetation" and if they pose a danger to a road user, the farmer is liable. We need to be mindful of that when discussing the Bill.

Deputy Eamon Ryan was right about what happened in the past. I remember in the 1980s, the EU - it was not Teagasc and I will not blame a local body - gave grants to farmers not to knock hedges but to knock ditches in fields. In my area we ended up turning five fields into one, but now we are coming full circle. In fairness, a regulation introduced by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine provides that not more than 500 m can be knocked now, and rightly so. That helped with respect to flooding, as the Deputy pointed out.

We are having great weather now but people need to be conscious that in September and October last year one could not go into a field on marginal ground in my area. As I said the other night, our land is only becoming normal now. In a month's time, we may be able to help deal with a problem on a road rather than ploughing up a field. A farmer does not go into a field willy-nilly to cause destruction to wildlife. We are brought up a different way. We should make sure we are mindful of that.

Regarding the burning of vegetation, anyone who comes from a rural area will know that when controlled burning is carried out there will be more food for the birds with the vegetation that grows back. People do not understand some of these practices. There is a saying that it would not feed a snipe but if one burns vegetation, what grows back will provide food for the birds. We are brought up with nature. We come from a managed landscape that the farmers of this country have to keep as best as is possible. I am not saying everyone is perfect and no one will ever say that but, in fairness to most of farmers and especially those in the west, they are not rewarded for what they do.

I ask the Government to consider addressing one issue. There is a great degree of land designation in the area from which I and Deputy Ó Cuív come, which puts great pressure on farmers. There is a danger that with land abandonment we will have an a unmanaged landscape, which would not be good for anyone. Deputy Bríd Smith referred to the Burren in County Clare. It might serve the Deputy well to read back on what happened with the Burren in the past. The State put millions of pounds into it and it was a total disaster. The first thing it did was take the cows off the Burren. When that was found not to work, the State listened to the farmers. That is what is important. People who live a distance from the countryside seem to believe they will tell everyone down the country how to live their lives. In this case, the State listened to the farmers and the Deputy is right in pointing out that the Burren has been a success. That is the type of partnership that is needed.

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