Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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232. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will consider setting up a grant scheme to help landowners with the costs of cutting roadside hedges, as a health and safety measure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51509/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for overall policy and exchequer funding in relation to the National Roads Programme. Under the Roads Acts 1993-2015 and in line with the National Development Plan (NDP), the operation and management of individual national roads is a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. This is also subject to the Infrastructure Guidelines and the necessary statutory approvals.

Section 70 of the Roads Act 1993 sets out the responsibility of landowners to take all reasonable steps to ensure that trees, hedges and other vegetation growing on their land are not, or could not become, a danger to people using a public road or interfere with the safe use of a public road or the maintenance of a public road. This responsibility includes 'the preservation, felling, cutting, lopping, trimming or removal of such tree, shrub, hedge or other vegetation' in question.

As such, the implementation of the legislation and the management of hedge cutting operations is a matter for local authorities and landowners, and I am not in a position to introduce such a grant scheme.