Farmers will be banned from burning bushes on their farms in 2023.

The Department of the Environment derogation, allowing the burning of agricultural green waste such as tree trimmings on farms, ceases on 1 January 2023.

No derogation is to be given for 2023, Minister Eamon Ryan has previously insisted, and a feasibility study examining alternatives to burning has only just begun.

No completion date for this study has been given, despite the fact that the derogation will cease within weeks.

Ironically, coppicing of hedgerows for rejuvenation in the new flagship environmental scheme, ACRES, will result in large amounts of hedgerows being cut.

Some farmers will pile bushes for habitats, but there are concerns that landfills could fill up with green waste and criticism that diesel will be used in transport and mulching.