Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent Ireland Party) | Oireachtas source

A lot of the damage that was done in this storm was due to all the regulations that were put in place and, consequently, caused by the Government. We cannot cut trees. We cannot cut hedgerows. The Government has put a lot of red tape on Departments and local authorities must enforce it. That has caused an awful lot of damage. It resulted in power lines coming down all around this country, which put businesses out of business, left staff at home, and resulted in there being no food on the table and no heating in houses. That was all because of a regulation that started as Government policy.

We had people telling the Government for the past three years about the dangers associated with ash dieback and how it would affect this country but the Government ignored it. Now we have a storm that shows the Government the statistics across the country. Trees were the main problem that caused power outages. The Government brought in the regulation. People are still without power. People came in to help move livestock. Businesses had to let off their employees because they had no power, yet the ESB believes that people themselves are responsible for it. It is the Government that is responsible for it because of regulations it brought in on tree felling and hedge cutting. When a local authority comes out to resurface a road, it is only allowed to cut in 1 m from the road edge and to go only 2.4 m high. On a 4 m or 5 m hedgerow, that means we allow the hedge to grow into the middle of the road, which stops people getting a safe passage to work. It also stops people from walking the roads. Heavy goods vehicles have to drive in the middle of the road because of regulations brought in by the Government, which have caused a catastrophe after a storm. If anything comes out of this, it should be that the Government would put a fund together to cut all roadways 1 m in from the road edge and 3 m below any power line. The ESB guidelines say that there cannot be anything within 3 m to 4 m of high power lines because of the possible effects on connectivity in bad weather. However, the Government says that trees can go straight through the power lines, and when there is a storm that causes outages everywhere. The Government must set up a task force and ensure that every hedgerow is cut for the protection of human life. I am not against wildlife but I am in favour of people - and front-line staff across the board - having a safe passage to work, school and hospital.

I am also very disappointed with the Government that a red warning was not issued when we had the snowfall. Even though there was 3 ft. of snow, people were told that if they did not turn up for work they would have to take a day's holiday or lose their wages. That is what we are up against. If we learn anything, it is that all these hedgerows need to be cut to make sure we have not got the same problems again.

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