Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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278. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine which Department is responsible for the implementation of the national hedgerow survey, as per Programme for Government commitments; and to outline the progress made on that commitment. [14205/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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In 2019, an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Funded Project, the Biomass Retrieval in Ireland using Active Remote (BRIAR) sensing project, conducted by Teagasc, estimated that Ireland has an estimated national hedgerow length of 689,000km.

In line with the commitment in Programme for Government regarding a national hedgerow survey, my Department has mapped farmland hedgerows nationally as part of the preparations for the new CAP Strategic Plan. The planned Farm Environmental Study (FES) will include a qualitative assessment of hedgerows on participating farms.

The National Land Cover Map produced by Tailte Éireann (formerly Ordnance Survey of Ireland) in partnership with the EPA that was published earlier this week will also assist in progressing this commitment.