Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have listened to a lot of the debate around the pilot issue and the hedges. Senator Marie-Louise O'Donnell, who reminds me of Gráinne Uaile, a great Irish champion who stands up and is counted when it is important, has hit the nail on the head. There is an issue here around how we define the pilot scheme. Are we going to completely abandon what was agreed here the first day, namely that it would be confined to roadside hedges? Now there seems to be a dilution of that position. I cannot wait to hear what the Minister has to say on that when we come to amendment No. 63.

On the pilot issue, let us not fool ourselves. We cannot operate a pilot scheme over two or three years and include the whole country, because there would be no comparative analysis to base findings on. It is not really a pilot in the scientific sense. I would be interested to hear what the Minister has to say about two current pilot projects which are taking place around our hedgerows in Ireland. They are being undertaken by Tipperary County Council in conjunction with Donegal County Council. That is one pilot project that is defined to two counties. Submissions were made locally. Considerations of biodiversity have been taken into account. The conclusion of that pilot project was due at the end of March but it is my understanding that the volume of work was such that it has not concluded yet. Why are we even talking about a national pilot project when we have a pilot project in County Donegal and in County Tipperary which could be used as a barometer? Has the Minister's Department had any engagement or interaction with the local authorities or the staff involved in these counties? Surely, if we are really interested in biodiversity, heritage and protecting wildlife, we should at least use that project as our barometer. We are pre-empting that study - which is a study because there is something to compare it against - if we push ahead with what is being suggested here today.

Senators O'Sullivan and Higgins touched on amendment No. 58, around the issue of pilot schemes and so forth. I agree with that, but if we are going to undertake a pilot scheme, and if we are here as Members of the Oireachtas in Seanad Éireann, we should make laws based on the best available information from the professionals who operate within the sector. We should base laws on hearsay or decide to bring in laws that will satisfy the needs of one interest group over another.

This is a very serious issue. It is about protecting our biodiversity and it also about protecting our agriculture. Over the period up to 2020 the Common Agricultural Policy, which is a European project, will deliver €10.7 million to Irish agriculture. Some 30% of the direct payments, which make up €8.8 million of that €10.7 million, are provided for greening proposals. All of the farmers I know on the western seaboard and the farmers in County Donegal have been doing that for years anyway without getting any money for it, but the whole objective was to protect biodiversity and soil quality and to deal with issues around climate change. Some 30% of direct payments provided for by the European taxpayer are in respect of greening. It would be very wrong it that were torn up here today by allowing a free-for-all on cutting of hedges throughout the entire year, which would appear to be the objective of amendment No. 63. That is wrong. We are not dealing with it.