Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for tabling the motion. When I was asked this morning to take the Adjournment debate, I asked what was it about and they said, "Ragwort", and I was delighted to hear it. I am not saying this merely because Senator Mary Ann O'Brien is sitting here. During the summer, I was disgusted when driving up the Ashbourne bypass to see the amount of ragwort in the middle of the road.

I come from a farming background where one of the chores every summer was for three or four of us to be sent out to pull the ragwort. Sometimes it would come easy and sometimes it would cut the hands off you. After that, one had to go and see whether any yew trees had grown over the previous summer.

I am very much aware of the effect ragwort has on animals, especially when it is cut with a mill and left on the ground. I suppose if an animal is hungry enough, it will eat it. However, when it is cut, it sweetens, and if it is lying for a day or two and one does not pick it up out of the swath, one is in trouble.

People have a responsibility to pull ragwort or spray it just like thistles, and we have neglected this for a long time. It is up to local authorities as well. One is not squealing on anybody when he or she telephones to say there is ragwort and asks what the person is doing about it. There are named noxious weeds for which what has to be done is set out and people should be urged to do it. It destroys a field, it is ugly but, most important, as the Senator correctly stated, is what it does to an animal. I am delighted that the Senator brought the matter up. I would urge farmers in this regard because nowadays they have a responsibility to have the correct plants growing in their ground. I will give the Senator the Minister's exact response.

The Noxious Weeds Act 1936 provides for the control of the spread of six noxious weeds, namely, thistle, dock, common barberry, wild hop, oat plants and, the most commonly and the most frequently mentioned of the species in the Act, ragwort. Ragwort is a highly poisonous plant as what it contains can cause serious damage to the liver of farm animals. The only way to safeguard against loss from ragwort poisoning is to eradicate the weed, either by pulling, ploughing, cutting or chemical control.

Under the Act, it is an offence not to prevent the spread of these weeds. The owner, occupier, user or managers of lands on which these weeds are present are subject to the provisions of the Act, including a fine of up to ¤1,000 on conviction.

The Department seeks to enforce the provisions of the Act by the issuing of destruction notices in all instances where it becomes aware of the presence of such weeds. Some 35 such notices were issued in 2011 with a further 43 having been issued to date in 2012. These notices are issued as a result of inspections carried out by Department field officials or on the receipt of complaints made by the public. Follow-up action may be taken by officials with the landowner to ensure compliance with the destruction notices is effected and that the particular weed in question has been dealt with as stipulated.

Additionally - it is important that this point be emphasised - under the EU single farm payment scheme, farmers are obliged to keep their lands free from noxious weeds under the cross-compliance measures set down for farming practices. Failure to do so can result in the application of a reduction of their payment entitlement. While figures for the number of penalties for the current year under the scheme are not yet available, in the years 2009 through 2011, a total of 104 such reductions were applied to farmers for failing to take the appropriate measures to prevent the proliferation of the such weeds.

While the Act makes provision for taking prosecutions against offenders, this measure has not been resorted to in recent years. Modern farming has reached a level of specialisation and intensification which makes weed control a fundamental and automatic practice. Therefore, with the few exceptions I have mentioned, the problem of noxious weeds on farms has diminished in recent times. However, the prevalence of ragwort found along the margins of roadways and in locations such as derelict sites regrettably appears to have increased.

In this context, the Department continues to engage with all county and local authorities, together with the National Roads Authority, to address the issue of the presence of such weeds in public areas and on roadsides, and to ensure a consistent programme of treatment and safe disposal of such weeds on an ongoing basis. In this regard, officials in the Department have been in contact with each of the county and local authorities early this year, re-emphasising both the importance of early treatment and safe disposal in order to minimise the risk of spreading and the prevention of further spread of the weed.

In recent years the Department has undertaken a number of public information campaigns to raise awareness of the impact of such weeds and the importance of controlling their growth from the perspective of reducing their spread through the promotion of best practices. In addition to the farming sectors, these campaigns have also been aimed at promoting awareness of non-traditional land users such as land for development, etc.