Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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728. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if her attention has been drawn to a local authority breaching hedge cutting laws during nesting season (details supplied). [9883/20]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The dates for the cutting of hedges are set down in primary legislation under the Wildlife Acts. Section 40 of the Act prohibits the cutting, grubbing, burning or destruction of vegetation, with certain strict exemptions, from 1 March to 31 August. There is provision in the legislation for some restricted exemptions from the prohibition during the closed period - for example, for works undertaken in the ordinary course of agriculture or forestry, for health and safety reasons, for the clearance of vegetation relating to road and other construction works including the preparation of sites for development; in respect of works permitted under statute and for works undertaken for road safety reasons under Section 70 of the Roads Act 1983.

Officials of the National Parks and Wildlife Service of my Department are aware of the works being undertaken by the local authority in question and consider that the works are exempted from the provisions of Section 40 of the Wildlife Acts as they relate to the preparation of a site for development