Grace O'Sullivan (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

What the Minister is saying is an absolute disgrace in terms of sustainability and biodiversity. I am also from a rural area outside of Dublin. The Minister is missing the point on this because hedgerows are part of our culture and part of a tradition going back to the late 1600s in Ireland. The Minister is proposing to do a pilot study in months that have never been part of the provision, so it does not work. We need to do a baseline survey. With regard to hedgerows, I propose we do a pilot study in the month of August because of their enormous value to the farmer, the landowner, the public, to the health of Ireland and to food production. I too have spoken to many farmers about this. They said the issue of cutting the hedges in August is not really a huge deal to them at the moment but that the issues of Brexit, farm gate prices and lots of other issues are much more pertinent. Nevertheless, I propose we do the baseline survey and the pilot study within the existing arrangement. We should not allow the cutting in August or the burning in March and should continue with the existing legislation and from when this is agreed by the Minister, we should start the pilot project and baseline survey. We should start collating the scientific data over a period of three to five years, gather the data and then base our decisions on those data. We should not go in now and start cutting, grubbing and tearing the ditches down. We should start the research now and in a period of three years, based on the gathering of good information, we should make the decision as to whether the cutting, grubbing destruction of the hedgerows should take place in August or whether the burning in the uplands should take place.

If the Minister looks at the all-Ireland pollinator plan, she will see the value of the hedgerow system and the value of the uplands system in terms of pollinators, which we heard from a farmer in Cork today. They are critical to the farmer, the development of agriculture and the health of our landscapes. We need to recognise that what the Minister is proposing will have a negative impact on the ecological system for the farmers and the people of Ireland. The hedgerows are not just for the birds; they are for the mammals and the bats. I do not know if any survey was done with regard to bats and hedgerows. The Minister does not have the data. She cannot provide us with the data at this point in time. She had a public consultation carried out.