Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will respond to some of the concerns raised by Senators at our last meeting. I recognise that hedgerows are important wildlife habitats, providing food, shelter, corridors of movement, nests and hibernation sites for many of our native flora and fauna. It has always been my intention that the change in the timing of cutting set out in section 8 of the Bill would not interfere with any of these functions. Therefore, the regulations that I will propose on foot of this legislation will require that any cutting in the month of August may only be of the current season's growth and should not involve the use of heavy flails. I am doing this on a pilot basis. It will allow for the trimming back of one year's growth on land where reseeding or tilling is taking place. When a farmer is preparing a field for ploughing, reseeding or sowing crops, he or she will have an opportunity at that point to trim back one season's growth. This is not about permitting the use of flails and causing the type of damage to hedgerows that was mentioned in the Chamber. There was a great deal of scaremongering at our last meeting.

I intend for my Department to carry out studies to determine what, if any, effects there are during the pilot phase. The studies will involve the use of control areas where cutting within the prescribed period under the Wildlife Acts can be compared with cutting of the current year's growth under the Bill. If farmers and others need to carry out heavier cutting of hedges, such as grubbing and flailing, they must do so during the existing permitted period, that being between September and the end of February. This is being done on a pilot basis and is mainly for the purpose of road safety, although there are other special circumstances. If a farmer is reseeding or sowing crops, it would make sense to cut back one season's growth at that time.

The best advice is that heavier cutting of hedges should be carried out every three years. If people want to get the best results out of their hedges in terms of seeds, berries and flowers, it is best to perform a light cutting every year. This is recognised to be the best husbandry and leads to a better production of flowers, seeds and berries.

I have addressed most of the issues save one. The National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, is a part of my Department. NPWS staff were involved in this work throughout and managed the consultation process.I rely on the advice of the NPWS and it will draw up the guidelines and regulations and bring them to me. It will also oversee the monitoring during the pilot phase.