Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

We do not need this Bill in order to trim the hedgerows along roadways. That work can be done under by-laws.

I have never been contacted by so many people and received so many polarised views on every aspect of this Bill. Sections of this Bill should be dealt with by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The Bill is a mishmash of a load of different things.

The Acting Chairman wants me to speak on the section that deals with roads. Many of the farmers who have contacted me have said they do not mind trimming hedgerows along roads. I have driven every road in this country. I have driven great big 40-foot trucks so I know what it is like to have overgrown hedges.