Michael Comiskey (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House to discuss this important Bill, which I also welcome.

I have an interest in two issues. I refer to the burning of overgrowth and commonages, in particular heather. Over the years mountains were under-grazed and there was a problem with heather growing too long. It had to be managed in a proper order. The fact that this will be reviewed in two years' time is good news. We can examine how it works out and introduce the scheme on a pilot basis. The burning of heather in the uplands is very important to control the growth. Once it is controlled and burned in a managed way, it will be of much more use to the animals that graze it, from a farming point of view, and wildlife.

We work very closely with people in commonage areas who are reintroducing grouse, in particular - I have an interest in this in Leitrim. The groups involved told us if heather is managed and burned in small areas, it will be of much more use to the grouse when they hatch and are being reared on the mountains afterwards. It will prevent heather from getting too long for sheep farmers and will also be of much more use to them. When heather is much too long, farmers are penalised and disqualified from certain payments, which we have seen in the past. From a farming point of view, it is very important that this is managed.

My colleagues have mentioned the dangers of overgrowth along the hedges on roadsides where people are walking. We must continue to encourage people to use the roadways to exercise more, but there is nothing as annoying when one is walking or running along the roadway as getting a slap of a branch on the side of face or a cut on a leg from a briar or whatever else. It is very important that overgrowth is cut as summer goes on, and August is the ideal time to do that. Last year, there were problems in my county, Leitrim, whereby a school bus had difficulty in travelling on a very narrow road. The mirrors on the bus were constantly broken and the driver refused to drive the bus because of the overgrowth which was damaging the vehicle, and the hedge had to be cut on a Saturday.

This is a very worthwhile Bill. It involves a pilot scheme which can be reviewed after two years. If any changes are needed after that, that will be possible.