Maura Hopkins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is trying to introduce on a pilot basis the management of hedgerows in order, first, to deal with road safety and, second, to do so in a managed, restricted way for tillage and re-seeding.It is as simple as that. The terms and conditions will be set out in the regulations. We have a commitment from the Minister that officials from the National Parks and Wildlife Service will monitor, inspect and keep a close eye on ensuring a proper pilot scheme is undertaken. The Minister outlined today that studies are being carried out on a wide number of habitats across the country. We have a level of baseline data. We need to be reasonable and practical. We also need to make sure we are supporting the two issues that are before us today. I am very disappointed that Fianna Fáil has brought this amendment before us today. It has been mentioned that others have met lots of farmers. I have also met lots of farmers and they tell me we need to support them in a practical way using common sense. That is what we intend to do. We want to ensure that we do this in a managed way. I have listened intently to this debate. The words "raping" and "widescale" have been used. It is complete scaremongering.