Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The EIA agriculture regulations cover three different types of on-farm activities, including the restructuring of rural landholdings, which relates to the removal of hedgerows. The thresholds for proposed hedgerow removal where screening applications are required under the regulations are any length of field boundary above 500 m proposed to be removed or any proposed removal of field boundaries to create a field area greater than 5 ha.

Any landholder who wishes to carry out field boundary removal that exceeds either of these thresholds must apply to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine for screening under the EIA regulations. All applications received are subject to an on-site inspection and a final decision is based on whether the proposed activity may have a significant effect on the environment. More significant works or activities likely to have a significant effect on the environment require a full EIA assessment. The Department has commenced a review of its procedures for dealing with screening applications under the EIA agriculture regulations. The Department is also committed to conducting a full review of the regulations, which will take place shortly.

In addition to the EIA regulations, the new CAP strategic plan has a stronger focus on the environment through a combination of new land eligibility rules, enhanced conditionality, the eco-scheme under Pillar I and an environmentally ambitious agri-climate rural environment scheme, ACRES, under Pillar 2. The new definition of the "eligible hectare" will avoid the incentive to remove features that are beneficial for climate or the environment. Under conditionality, farmers will have to devote at least 4% of their land to biodiversity. For the first time, this will place a direct financial value on hedgerows. The standards for the maintenance of land in good agricultural and environmental condition, GAEC, will also require farmers to retain landscape features, including hedgerows. There is also space for a nature option in the eco-scheme to recognise farmers who commit a higher proportion of their land to biodiversity. Under that scheme and the ACRES, there are hedgerow and tree planting options that will further incentivise farmers to plant trees and new hedgerows.

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