Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Yes, we have a problem with most things in Dundalk. I thank Deputy Ó Snodaigh for bringing forward the aptly-named Neighbour Disputes (Vegetation) Bill. I thank the Minister of State and the Government for not opposing it.

Everyone agrees that this is the sort of thing that can become a big issue for neighbours and for many of us as elected representatives. I remember as a councillor dealing with some incredibly serious issues with regard to drug debt and intimidation and whatever else that would involve liaising with landlords, the Garda and a large number of stakeholders in the hopes of resolving a situation regarding people's safety but a consistent constant issue to arise was with regard to trees. This happens with regard to local authorities and individuals. People put trees in places where they think they look nice. It is grand when they are 5 ft tall. Then they are 10 ft tall and suddenly they are 25 ft tall and their roots are going under foundations and heading into pipework and impacting how we get rid of surface water. It is a big issue.

We need to be able to facilitate people. We all realise that people can take these sorts of disputes to court. We know the courts are backlogged as it is and we do not need these sorts of issues landing there where we do not know how exactly they will be dealt with. We know if we had a mediation system with some element of enforcement powers it could deal with these issues before they got out of hand, which sometimes they do. It is fair to say this. People fall out. What is the old phrase? Good fences make good neighbours. Sometimes trees can lead to the absolute opposite. The Minister of State spoke about the mediation service that is only available in Limerick and Dublin. This leaves out half the State.

The difference in this legislation is the fact that it provides some element of enforcement with the local authority. I get that the local authority will never thank us for giving more powers to it. If we wanted to we could talk about all of the issues that people request the local authority to deal with which it cannot necessarily do, with regard to this and the wider issue of estate management. We know the powers are not there. Sometimes we get complaints from the Garda or other stakeholders about them not necessarily having the tools to deal with this. Sometimes these issues get out of hand. Sometimes these issues fall in front not only of the local authority but also ourselves as elected representatives. Occasionally they even fall in front of An Garda Síochána. Anything that can be moved to a much simpler system makes complete sense.

I know that from time to time, and not only in relation to trees, elected representatives have to deal with mediation where there is absolutely no win for them. We have been lucky enough in Dundalk that we have sometimes been able to call on the likes of Community Restorative Justice, which operates in Newry. We hope that in future we will be able to have this type of service close at hand. The idea of this is that sometimes a third party can deal with people and take the sting out of the issue. We often speak about having early intervention before relationships get particularly bad but we do not always see it. This is something that I speak about.

We are speaking specifically about trees and this legislation can allow for dealing with these issues in a straightforward manner. Deputy Ó Snodaigh mentioned that nobody has an absolute right to light for their garden. Nobody has a right to a view. We often hear planning authorities speak about this. We often hear about light surveys and we understand that at times not a huge amount of light is required for buildings to get through the gap in this regard, and rightfully so. It is the case that we need a means of dealing with these types of issues before they get out of control as all too often they do.

All too often we have situations where house ownership is not necessarily a sure thing. Following somebody's death we could have a complicated scenario. We could also have a situation where people do not necessarily have the money to deal with cutting back trees. We know the large costs that are involved. It can have a big impact on people. I have dealt with many people who have no means of enforcing that their neighbours look after trees which are a definite danger. We all know that we deal with storms and these people are constantly worried that a tree will fall through their window or roof. At this point insurance will kick in and it is straightforward but we need to be able to get to the point long before this. At times we create a situation that could impact on people's safety. It impacts on their mental health. I accept that from time to time if we had cool heads and people could try to facilitate each other we would be in a better place but, as someone said before, if we were dealing with good manners across the board we would not need half the rules we have. This is not always the case.

We all understand the absolute necessity of biodiversity. We know the absolute necessity of trees. I will use the example of Ashbrook, and we can guess what type of tree we are speaking about. The trees looked very nice at one point in time, and they still do, but some of them are absolutely huge and have gone right underneath some of the buildings. This impacts on people's houses. They have probably impacted some of the systems, such as the water network. The roots search for water sources so it should not be shocking that this happens. It can be a big issue to try to get the local authority or whoever else to deal with it because of the large cost and the issues with regard to biodiversity. This is another issue that needs to be tackled and there is absolutely no shortage of them. I call for this to happen. I have dealt with multiple issues, such as in Ashbrook, where large trees are having a big impact.

There is also the annoyance in relation to leaves or whatever. In certain places, we sometimes deal with a legacy where certain trees that were planted suddenly start ripping the surrounding pavement to shreds. It is a case of the wrong trees in the wrong place. We need some element of flexibility in the rules to allow people to deal with those circumstances and so that the local authority will actually deal with those issues. We could also have more sensible planning to avoid as much of that as possible. We all want and need to see more trees, but we want to see the right trees that make sense in particular places.

Deputy Ó Snodaigh spoke about the issue in respect of rural areas. Disputes can occur when someone has satisfied every aspect of planning but sight lines become an issue. This can involve a neighbour's trees. Sometimes it suits one party not to facilitate the other. We should support any means of getting simple, sensible solutions that avoid fallout and people going to court when there is no need.

On local authorities and mediation services, for instance, in respect of estate management, that is a far wider issue given the resources required from the relevant local authority and many of the other services. We know the issues that councils and elected representatives have to deal with, for instance, certain chaotic tenants or characters who make life a disaster for those who live around them. These are relatively simple issues that can get out of control.

We need to deal with the wrong trees being in the wrong place. We need to be able to facilitate people to find a sensible solution. There will always be a need to provide somebody with some sort of power so that, while mediation is available, an adjudication will be made. This would remove the matter from the courts system and prevent annoyance of the Garda. Members of this House and those in council chambers across the State would be only too delighted.

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