Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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5. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her plans to submit amendments to the Heritage Bill 2016 on Report Stage in Dáil Éireann to remove the extension of the hedge-cutting and burning seasons into August and March, respectively, in view of the effects such an extension would have on wildlife; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27283/18]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I tabled this question because I believe Ireland should set itself a national goal to restore the curlew, to stop the Irish curlew becoming extinct and to maintain the cry of the curlew on our land. It is of deep importance to us to maintain a connection to nature. It would be a tragedy to lose that bird or to lose the yellowhammer, which is also under threat from the provisions of the Heritage Bill that the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Madigan, is bringing forward. I would go as far to say that we should go all out to try to protect the corncrake. In doing that we would be protecting our natural environment, which protects us and our place on this planet.

Will the Minister, Deputy Madigan, consider doing this in amendments to the Heritage Bill?

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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Section 40 of the Wildlife Act, as amended, prohibits the cutting, grubbing, burning or destruction of vegetation, with certain strict exemptions, from 1 March to 31 August.

Following a review of section 40, which included consideration of submissions from interested parties, proposals were announced in December 2015 to introduce legislation to allow for managed hedge cutting and burning at certain times within the existing closed period on a pilot two-year basis. The relevant legislation is included in the Heritage Bill 2016, which was published in January 2016.

The Bill has completed its passage through Seanad Éireann and completed Committee Stage, when Deputy Ryan contributed, in Dáil Éireann last month. In the meantime, the existing provisions relating to section 40 of the Wildlife Act remain in force.

The provision on burning in the Bill will not allow all landowners to burn vegetation on any day during the month of March. It provides that the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht may make regulations to allow burning in certain areas of the country, for example in a county or counties or parts of a county, at specified periods in the month of March. It does not , therefore, allow for widespread burning of vegetation, which in turn relates to the Deputy's concerns around wildlife.

The regulations will permit controlled burning only and only in years where the winter rainfall is higher than average. The regulations will refer to the requirements for consent on any Natura-designated sites and refer also to other relevant legislation on burning of lands. In addition to regulations, advice and guidelines will be issued to ensure that best practice will be followed in respect of burning.

I am fully aware that hedgerows are a very important wildlife habitat, providing food, shelter, corridors of movement, nest and hibernation sites. It is my intention that the change in timing of cutting set out in section 7 of the Heritage Bill would not interfere with this.

Ireland has some 300,000 km of hedgerow mainly surrounding fields and properties across the country and only roadside hedges are subject to the provisions of the Heritage Bill, which is a fraction of the entirety of the total hedgerow resource in this country.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The Minister is aware that BirdWatch Ireland, An Taisce and the Irish Wildlife Trust all raise real concerns that the provisions in the Minister's Bill will actually threaten the revival of the curlew and the survival of yellowhammers in Ireland. I put it to the Minister that these organisations are important voices in this matter because of their huge experience and their work in the area, and they should be listened to.

Last year the Department set up a special task force to look at the protection of the curlew. Where is that task force at? What is the Minister going to do and how will we do it? What is the Minister's plan so we do not lose the cry of the curlew? It is where we are going currently. There has been a 95% drop in curlew numbers in the past 40 years.

This is largely due to the loss of habitat, a situation that will be worsened by the provisions in the Minister's Bill. Will she not join with BirdWatch Ireland, An Taisce and others in this iconic and necessary challenge? What will she do to bring these birds back?

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy is aware that the curlew has been in longitudinal decline. The Green Party did not put a conservation programme in place, but we have done so, as the Deputy mentioned. We established the curlew task force and the curlew conservation programme in order to help the curlew. In the period 2016 to 2018, my predecessors and I approved €500,000 for the curlew conservation programme.

The primary issues for breeding curlew in Ireland include habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation, exacerbated by unsustainable predation rates. According to Dr. Barry O'Donoghue, however, whose testimony the Deputy is aware I gave on Committee Stage and who is the national expert on the curlew, burning is not suspected to be a significant cause of the population decline, given that localised burning was a traditional practice in the hills throughout the time when the curlew and other species like red grouse flourished in Ireland while the strongholds for curlew in Britain happened to be on the grouse moors, which are managed, including by burning.

Regarding the Heritage Bill, there are regulations on the cutting of hedges and provisions on burning.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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What the Minister is doing is loosening the regulations. Last Monday, we saw what happened when there was no proper enforcement of environmental laws, with people ignoring the laws that restrict illegal dumping. I have a similar fear that, when the Minister gives the go-ahead for people to start cutting hedges in August and burning uplands, we will see a further degradation of the key environments that we need to protect to maintain birdlife and all other associated life, for example, butterflies, bees, etc. The Minister is engaging in a destruction of the environment, which will lead inexorably to a loss of species and a narrowing of biodiversity. I am sickened. The Government was lined up yesterday to talk about how we would be great on the environment and climate but there is a connection between being good on the climate and protecting habitats, restoring diversity, marshlands and uplands and allowing nature to flourish. The Government cannot be seen as being serious on one if, on the other, it is telling people to start the flails going in August and to burn the hills in March. Everyone knows that having no enforcement of environmental rules is a recipe for disaster but the Minister is lighting the flame-thrower and bringing the hedge cutters. She will be responsible for that.

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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It is important that when we discuss issues as significant as our natural heritage, we not scaremonger or use hyperbolic or emotive language in place of an examination of the facts. For example, it is a fact that the regulations on cutting will limit the current year's growth only. There will be no widescale deep cutting or cutting with heavy machinery or flails. The Deputy is aware of another fact, that being it is an offence under section 22 of the Wildlife Act to destroy, injure or mutilate wilfully the eggs or nests of any bird species. It is a crime to touch a nest and anyone cutting the hedge is obliged to check for nests. There is enforcement of these provisions under the Wildlife Acts, as the Deputy is aware.

The Bill's provisions on burning are being introduced on a pilot basis only, will restrict and regulate burning to just one month and will have a limited timespan of two years. After that time, we will be in a position to be informed on how the pilot has worked. As we know, 14% of the country is designated under the habitats and birds directives, so burning in any designated area is an ARC, that is, an activity requiring ministerial consent.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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We must now move on to Other Questions.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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May I make a final comment?

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Make it short.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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To aid in having a factual debate, will the Minister please send me the data via written response on the number of prosecutions under the section she just mentioned? Show me the evidence that we have any effective enforcement. I might believe her then but I do not now. By loosening the regulations, she will make matters worse.

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I will send the data. That would be no problem.