John Whelan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. With all due respect to her, however, I do not welcome the Bill and it does not enjoy my support. Indeed, it will not enjoy my support and I am minded to vote against it. I do not lay the charge at the door of the Minister but I call on her to ensure she does not leave this as her legacy. She should not allow this to be the last legislation she puts on the Statute Book before the Dáil is dissolved and we go to the country in a general election.

Serious issues are at stake. I have no wish to fall foul of the farming community but certainly I am crying foul today. The Minister, her officials and those behind this legislation cannot speak out of both sides of their mouths on this matter. The Minister cannot say that she is in favour of balance and biodiversity while introducing this Bill. Section 40 is an assault on the landscape and habitat. It is an assault on conservation, our wildlife and our natural heritage. I note that the Title of the Bill is rather innocuous - the Heritage Bill 2016. It is a Trojan horse for an attack on our heritage. It represents an assault on our natural heritage and landscape. No one in his right mind would extend the hedge-cutting, hedge-burning and scrub-burning season by a full two months while claiming to have any regard for wildlife, heritage, conservation or habitats. I strenuously oppose that section and I urge the Minister to reconsider it. It should be withdrawn and I hope it makes no further progress in this House. Moreover, I hope it makes no progress in the Lower House and that time betrays and delays it to the point where it falls with the Government and never sees the light of day again.

I live in the countryside. All the decent farmers I know respect the landscape, habitats and nature. They believe biodiversity is important for food production and the balance of nature. They know it is important for all other aspects of a sustainable lifestyle in the countryside, including those referred to previously, such as tourism and natural heritage, aspects which attracts so many visitors.

I am sick and tired of people speaking out of both sides of their mouths, talking about our natural heritage and how much they respect, love and value it. This is not valuing our natural heritage, wildlife, flora or fauna. Is the Minister honestly trying to tell me that the farmers of this country need two further months in the year to tend to hedgerows? I do not think so.

I have heard it all today. While I have great respect for my colleagues, Senator Eamonn Coghlan and Senator Michael Comiskey, from whom I take advice on agricultural and farming matters, and indeed I take advice on other matters from Senator Coghlan, I did not know until today that hedgerows throughout this country have a habit of attacking people. It is absurd to suggest that the briary thorns of a blackberry bush amount to just cause to bring in these draconian measures.

Everyone should tend to their hedgerows. The landscape should be maintained and we must have balance, but there is already provision in the case of road safety issues. If road safety concerns arise, the law already provides for intervention to deal with it. It is a ruse to suggest there are road safety or pedestrian safety issues. It is a guise to introduce this measure under a two-year pilot programme. It will never be clawed back or rolled back. It will be in place forever.

People come to this House week after week saying they are concerned about our heritage. What about the curlew, the golden plover, the skylark, the meadow pipet, the yellowhammer, the greenfinch and the linnet? They will be decimated if we desecrate the hedgerows in March and August as proposed in this legislation. It is absurd. There has not been adequate consultation. The Bill was published in Christmas week. Now, here we are trying to sneak it through in the dying days of the Government and the House. It is not necessary. I know of no farmers calling for this measure. If there are unique examples or extenuating circumstances where hedgerows have to be addressed, there is already provision in law for that to be tackled.We are here talking about green food, green technology, green energy, green economy and green jobs. It is paying lip service. There are talks about climate change. There is nothing green about the provisions in this Bill. There is nothing pro-heritage in the proposals in section 40. It is anti-environment, anti-conservation and anti-habitat. It is an attack on the wildlife and the countryside of this country. It is not pro-rural Ireland. Most right-thinking farmers and landowners would agree with me that there is adequate provision in law to address hedgerows in the existing timeframe and if one needs to extend beyond that, one can seek permission to do so as it is allowed. We are here blue in the face paying lip service to the climate change issue.

This is a further attack on the countryside. It is not good for the economy, for the countryside or for our conservation policies. It is an attack on the landscape, and that is even before I get to the issues around the canal by-laws. The Minister's predecessor, the Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach, Deputy Deenihan, tried to introduce those and we saw them off three years ago, and now here we have another Trojan horse attempt to sneak them in before the Government is dissolved. Those by-laws are not robust by-laws. They are also draconian by-laws to curb ordinary decent people trying to use the canals of this country.

I do not agree with this Bill. It does not enjoy my support and I will not be supporting it.