Denis Landy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I support what Senator O'Donovan has said because I have been pursuing this matter through the Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Heritage and Local Government. Everything Senator O'Donovan has said is correct. They have spent millions of pounds in Great Britain trying to curtail it. It is not possible to burn it out of the ground. The latest treatment is electric shock, believe it or not. It is a very serious problem. It has contaminated a large wild area in my town. If one walks where it is, you will literally bring back the spores on your shoes to your own land and garden. It needs to be addressed.

We have provision in one of the wildlife Acts to deal with this and prevent it moving from A to B but we do not have any provision in law or any other statute to deal with it on-site and eradicate it. Thanks in part to Senator Paul Coghlan, I travelled between Dungarvan and Killarney quite recently for an event. Along the road between Fermoy and Killarney, I saw signs notifying people that Japanese knotweed is on the road and not to touch it. It is that serious and it needs to be addressed. I welcome and support the call for an urgent debate in this House because the weed will destroy lands across the country.