Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the fact that Senator O'Reilly referenced the fact that we are national representatives. This is a good opportunity to make the case that the urban-rural divide in this debate is problematic. Senator Black mentioned her joy in travelling across Ireland and I can attest to that having returned from Killarney at all hours of the morning and having travelled to many parts of this island. It is not simply that the urban people in the room want to protect our hedgerows. We acknowledge absolutely that covering front gardens in urban areas with Tarmacadam and manicured public realms also fail to support biodiversity. The students in the Gallery will tell one that eight out of ten plants depend on insects for pollination. Wild insects pollinate our food and improve yields for the crops we need. The pollinators help to provide one in every three mouthfuls of our food. I reject the urban-rural aspect of the debate.

I did not make the following point in the previous session. I do not want to repeat myself. Under the good agriculture and environmental condition, GAEC, requirements of the Europe Union, farmers are obliged to maintain their land in good agricultural and environmental condition. This concept includes the protection of soil against erosion, maintenance of soil organic matter and soil structure and the safeguarding of landscape features. It is member states, not the European Union, that decide the exact specification of these parameters, which set the context for where matters stand today. The current GAEC requirement states that hedge, tree or scrub cutting is not permitted between 1 March and 31 August, although hedge cutting is permitted in the period when there is a health and safety issue. These dates help those who farm the land to avoid damaging wildlife and any changes in these cross-compliance hedge cutting dates should be based on scientific research, evidence and the impact on biodiversity and agricultural practices. Obviously, the Department has no scientific research or evidence on which to base its policy. The closed period for hedge cutting should remain in line with the North of Ireland and we should not depart from the GAEC position, or the all-island position, in the interests of both our society and our environment.