David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to make a couple of points. The first relates to the custodianship of farmers. This is a relatively recent phenomenon. I am the oldest person in the House today and I recall that in 1940s to the 1960s the hedgerows in Ireland were a jungle. The animal and flora life we have there is a result of neglect. There was a history of neglect. This hedge cutting is only happening in comparatively recent years, with EU grants and so forth. Quite a large proportion of tillage farmers make 37% of their income from being guardians, so there is a motivation. I used to visit my Irish uncle in Rutland, in England. The difference between the manicured hedgerows of England and the jungle we had in Ireland was quite remarkable.

I compliment Senator Ó Domhnaill on making the point, which was not made previously, that the overwhelming preponderance of hedgerows are internal or within the field structure. They are not on the roads at all. That is not referred to in the legislation and it should be. The internal hedgerows should be excluded from this additional permission.

I had intended to make the point made by Senator Mulherin, although slightly later on, regarding the massacre of the hedgerows by the inappropriate use of machinery that is not kept up to date or properly sharpened. One can see the splintered shanks of trees, shrubs and so forth. The machinery simply slashes across the hedgerow. It is like a cartoon. There should be some training of the personnel running these machines as well as supervision of the machines.

The other issue in the second amendment has been raised by Members. I strongly agree with it. The Minister was advised strongly about this. There is no scientific basis for this legislation. There is simply no information. No surveys have been carried out and no data, or very little, have been collected so this is a shot in the dark. It is completely blind in terms of scientific information. The scientific research that has been conducted points directly away from this Bill's provisions on enlarging the period for grubbing, burning, cutting and so forth. People talk about the number of submissions they receive, and the pile I have with me is just part of them. I am sure every Member has a similar amount. However, we have received additional information about the number of rare wild birds that are threatened by this legislation.

I hope there will be a strong vote on this today. I am delighted Sinn Féin is on board this time. That is excellent. I believe we can win this one.