Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to emphasise that at no point did I make an attack. I simply pointed to the valid arguments that Senator Paul Daly made during the last debate. I urged him to follow through and table the legislative proposals. Let us not wait to see what regulations may emerge after the fact or be laid before a committee because there is utterly no requirement in the legislation. We can talk about our aspirations for the Bill. It behoves us, as legislators and where we have constructive points to make, let us translate them into the legislation and ensure it moves through this House and is fit for purpose.

I echo the view that we should send a strong message to farmers that there has not been an attack. My colleague spoke passionately about her farming background. I spoke about my genuine concern for Ireland's Common Agricultural Policy payments and the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme or GLAS scheme, on which so many of our farmers rely. Many small farmers have a genuine concern about the impact damaging our hedgerows will have when we go to Europe and plead for funding. We, as custodians, potentially endanger our case for funding, which is essential for farmers.

Lastly, pollination is crucial to small farmers and anybody who produces orchards, crops and practices horticulture in Ireland. Pollination is genuinely in serious jeopardy in this Bill. We have heard from the beekeepers of Ireland that bees gather pollen in August to have a store of food to survive winter. We must ensure we have a healthy bee pollinating population because they are necessary to pollinate fruit, vegetables and everything that needs pollination. We have a national pollination plan. It is reasonable to say that pollination is a farming issue, as well as a heritage and natural environment issue. I would like to correct the record. We are talking about farming. Everybody in the House might not always talk about the same farmers but many farmers in Ireland are concerned about this matter.

Senator Ruane mentioned the 16th century. We need only to look back to 1999 when we heard Enda Kenny speak in favour of protecting the hedgerows. The wildlife legislation came through this House and Senators have a duty to protect wildlife.