Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Bill and the extension of hedge-cutting time to include the month of August and burning time to include the month of March. Farmers in Northern Ireland are allowed burn until 15 April and, as there is only a ditch between the North and the South, it does not make much sense for farmers here to have to cease by the end of February. Many Februarys have been wet and farmers could not burn. Burning is necessary because land becomes overgrown and useless and cannot be grazed by sheep or cattle. There is great merit in extending burning time to include February or March because there might be a dry spell in the middle of February and one would be able to burn the land one wishes to burn. We should go back to farmers' former practice of controlled burning. At that time, Coillte helped farmers. A farmer would notify Coillte that he or she wished to burn and it would assist the farmer to ensure that the fire did not spread to forestry or other land. That can be done methodically and carefully by opening a fire vent such that the fire does not travel. All farmers whose land is prone to burning or whose fire may spread to other land should open fire vents, which is not very expensive. It could improve matters greatly if controlled burning was carried out and we should be aiming for that.

Under the Bill, the cutting of roadside hedges will be allowed in August, which I very much welcome even though I have always maintained that the cutting of roadside hedges should be permitted all year round for the safety of all road users. We are told that it is good for our health to walk but those doing so on country roads are in danger. Some roads are so dangerous that one's eyes might be picked out if one tried to stay close to a hedge on a narrow road in order to avoid being knocked down. Cyclists could be knocked off their bicycles by briars, etc. It is imperative that roadside hedges are cut and that roads are safe for people to walk, cycle and drive on. Many people regularly complain to me about hedges which need to be cut. They have difficulty passing cars on narrow roads. A new car costs money and one should not have to run the risk of one's property being scratched or damaged by hedging. I also receive regular requests for hedges or branches to be cut in order to allow school buses pick up children on country roads. That is one of the main issues with which local representatives deal. It is important for the safety of children that a branch or briar does not break the windscreen or side window of a school bus and injure a child travelling on it. Farmers regularly complain that they cannot get goods or milk lorries up or down the roads to their farms. Wing mirrors, which may cost €1,000, are often broken. Parts of the Ring of Kerry are still unsafe for tour buses. The road is only the width of one bus and buses cannot pass a car where hedges or briars extend into the road.

It is ridiculous that people are stating that the Bill, if implemented, will lead to nesting birds being harmed. As I put it to Kerry County Council, what bird would be so foolish as to make a nest on the side of the road where the wind from a lorry could blow the feathers off the bird and leave it standing naked in the middle of the road? It does not make any sense. I do not request permission to cut the field side of hedges but the side facing the road should be cut, and continually so, for the safety of all road users. The next thing will be for someone to say that part of the road should be given over to wildlife as well as the side of the road. The side of the road is part of the road network and should be treated as such. Local authorities have previously refused to cut roadside hedges because of a law passed by the Oireachtas in approximately 1993, as a result of which the local authorities believe the cutting of hedges is none of their business. However, if one were to take certain actions beyond the ditch forming the border between one's land and the road, the local authority would not be long in putting a stop to it. The roadside is part of the local and national road network and should be treated as such.

Another Bill progressing through the House will require motorists to give cyclists 1.5 m passing space. However, if a cyclist is keeping out from briars, he or she will be closer to the centre of the road, which would mean there may be no space for a motorist to pass on a narrow road, particularly with, for example, a car and possibly a bicycle coming in the opposite direction.

I support the Bill, which is designed to ensure that roadside hedges are cut in the month of August and that farmers be allowed to burn in the month of March.

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