Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party)
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74. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on whether the current environmental impact assessment, EIA, regulations are fit for purpose as a deterrent against the removal of hedgerows and other on-farm vegetation; if he will revise the regulations to provide for greater environmental protections for rural landholdings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53243/22]

Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party)
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Will the Minister outline whether the current EIA regulations are fit for purpose as a deterrent against the removal of hedgerows and other on-farm vegetation? Does he intend to revise the regulations to provide for greater environmental protections for rural landholdings?

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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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.

Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party)
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While I welcome the reviews the Minister referenced, will he indicate the timeline for their completion? I also welcome his comments on the changes in the CAP, which have been well flagged.

Under the EIA regulations that are in place, if one is removing a hedgerow with a length of 500 m or more or removing a field boundary, one must apply for screening, but there is otherwise no requirement to apply. This leaves out a lot of hedgerows straightaway and is a fundamental flaw in the current regulations. In the UK, there is an interim measure whereby the limit is 20 m rather than 500 m. I understand the Minister has the power to make the same reduction here. Notwithstanding the limitations of the rule, is there a sense of adherence to it? Could it be the case that many hedgerows that are greater than 500 m in length are being illegally removed? Has the Department done an analysis of illegal hedgerow removal?

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I take the Deputy's point that the thresholds are high. Across our agricultural policy and under the new CAP strategic plan, the whole thrust of what we are doing is about trying to increase the number of hedgerows on farms and incentivise and recognise their good maintenance and protection.

Therefore, the various schemes, including CAP, the eco-schemes and the environmental schemes, are very much about increasing and improving the quality of our hedgerows as well. Certainly, there is a very strong understanding among farmers themselves, and there has been a change of culture about the value of hedgerows. Going back ten or 20 years, it was about removing them and having bigger fields. Farmers now are very much geared in the other direction and see the value of having them from a stock point of view and also from an environmental point of view. The approach we are taking in CAP of recognising that financially is going to be important too. We need to seek to continue that.

Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party)
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I agree with the Minister's thoughts. There is a completely new thinking, but we need to go a lot further. It is the case that all applicants, as the Minister said, receive an on-site inspection, but it is also the case that 95% of landowners who seek approval do get full permission. All that adds up to 2,000 km of hedgerows being removed every year, which is a conservative estimate made by the EPA. Hedgerows Ireland, an organisation that I would like to commend has produced research on the issue. It has done brilliant work. As Deputy Carthy will recall, representatives of the organisation appeared before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, who have said that it is much greater than 2,000 km, citing research from Monaghan. Ultimately, our hedgerows are incredibly important. They are important for biodiversity and carbon sequestration. We really need to get on top of it, and advance and accelerate that new thinking that the Minister has talked about. I accept that the Minister is reviewing the regulations. We need to accelerate the completion of the review and reform the regulations overall.

Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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I would say that 500 m is a fair size of a hedge to be removing. There must be bigger fields in County Donegal than I previously thought. The removal of hedgerows is an issue, but management is also an issue. We all know the value that hedgerows have and we talk about the potential for carbon sequestration and for promoting biodiversity, but are we seeking to promote the management of our hedgerows, and not just their removal? There are some fantastic traditional techniques that help rejuvenate hedges and make them much more stock-proof, while also promoting those biodiversity elements and really adding to the carbon sequestration potential. I know we are moving more towards a results-based model in our agri-environmental schemes. That is most welcome, because with the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme, GLAS, in some cases there was something planted, then removed, then replanted for the next round of GLAS. I know that we are moving to a more long-term view of results-based schemes. That is welcome. Hedgerows offer a huge opportunity in that regard.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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There are measures in the new ACRE scheme for encouraging and rewarding the improvement of existing hedges and how they are managed, and keeping them at a higher height to encourage wildlife and bird life, in particular, to use them. There has been a whole step change in farmers' understanding of hedges and what they contribute. That is really important. Certainly, it is a long time since I have seen a hedge removed in County Donegal. I am seeing them being put back and restored increasingly. How we can encourage that further is something we should look at. The thresholds should be considered as part of the review that is ongoing. We will have a look at it. I think the thrust of what we are doing is very strong, as is the response. Farmers deserve recognition for the change in culture that we are seeing here.