Marie Louise O'Donnell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Most of what I have heard in here has been quite spurious up to now.

It is an interesting point because climate change is an enormous issue. Protection and preservation, and the knowledge of how to protect and preserve our environment are tantamount because without our environment, none of us will be here.

I am concerned about the Bill and I agree with Senators who say that we do not have information. I do not see what hedgerows have to do with road safety. I understand the lack of visibility on country roads, but road safety usually relates to speed. There is no one reason for fatalities and accidents on the roads. There are lots of reasons, but hedges and hedgerows are not among them. There is a mismatch as to why road safety is sitting in the middle of this as a major reason for cutting them down when it should not be. Road safety should not be in a heritage Bill.

I have received hundreds of e-mails and letters from stakeholders involved with wildlife, bird watching and biodiversity; they cannot be wrong. These are people who work in this area and know what they are talking about. They are trying to give us advice on the Bill - mostly against it - and I want to believe them. Again I do not have enough information.

In the past six months I have travelled extensively throughout Ireland. I cannot believe what I have seen. On the previous day, Senator Humphreys alluded to the destruction of the foliage, trees and bushes on the side of the roads. They are hacked to death by the wrong hacking instruments in order to improve visibility. It is outrageous. If that is the kind of hedge cutting that will happen, I give up. They are hacked to death.

As Senator Ó Domhnaill said three major areas are involved - wildlife, hedgerows and the canals. I am all mixed up because each of them has demands. The Department is an arts Ministry incorporating rural revitalisation and heritage; the Minister is trying to run a huge area. This is a part of it that is also enormous. When we come to dealing with the canals, it deals with alteration, regulation, prevention, obligations for removal and charging, but very little about the actual cleaning. The canals in Dublin are filthy.

I wanted to make the general point that I am not happy about this. We need more information and we need to look at it more closely. We need to take advice from some of the experts. I return to my original statement. The US President-elect seems to know nothing about climate change and how preserve and protect our environment.