Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I was at a meeting in Bantry at which a Fianna Fáil Deputy gave a commitment that this would not happen and it has happened here tonight. It is disappointing. We deserve better than this. With this amendment, Fianna Fáil is telling farmers who want the opportunity to reseed or grow winter grain that there is nothing that can be done about it, that it is their issue and Fianna Fáil will not step in. Fianna Fáil is blatantly stopping this from going ahead. It is appalling. This is politics on a different level than I ever thought I would see.

At the end of the day, these people are trying to make a living. They do not want to go out and spend money cutting hedges. They do not want to spend time cutting hedges. They do not have an agenda about cutting hedges. They want to survive in rural Ireland. It is damn hard to survive in rural Ireland at the moment. It is damn hard to survive. We are putting another impediment in their way today.

We have the opportunity to amend this legislation. I appeal to Fianna Fáil Senators not to press this amendment. I realise they might be under pressure from above but at the end of the day the farming community will not thank them if they push this forward. This is a common sense proposal. We are on about trimming hedges. We are not on about cutting them back. We are on about 31 days and it is logical all the way through. The Minister has explained the logic. It is a pilot scheme for two years with reports to come back to the House for due consideration. What more can we do? We need to look after our communities. We need to look after everyone if we can. This amendment will not take care of the farming community. Senator Ó Domhnaill said the public will not be thankful when it comes to the polling booths. I assure the House, when it comes to the polling booths, Fianna Fáil will not be thanked for what it is doing to the farmers here today.