The Seanad voted to pass the Heritage Bill this Thursday, including provisions to allow vegetation burning in March and hedge cutting in August under a pilot scheme to be administered by Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Heather Humphreys.

More than one year after its introduction and following lengthy debates, the legislation must now go to the Dáil before it enters into force. The version of the bill adopted by the Seanad includes a controversial Fianna Fáil amendment limiting August cutting to “any hedge or ditch on the roadside,” as opposed to any hedge or ditch in the text originally proposed by the Government.

The bill is still live as long as there isn’t a general election

IFA environment chair Thomas Cooney told the Irish Farmers Journal that the association had obtained a commitment from Fianna Fáil TDs to further amend the bill in the Dáil to include reseeded fields and those used for winter crops. However, this will further delay the final adoption of the text as the amended version would have to go back to the Seanad for final approval, which is unlikely to happen in time for August this year.

“The bill is still live as long as there isn’t a general election,” Cooney added.

Roadside only

A last-minute Government amendment to modify the 1976 Wildlife Act caused further heated exchanges on Thursday evening. The amendment exempts land owners and occupiers from seeking special authorisation when hedge cutting is needed to ensure road safety during the closed period. Minister Humphreys argued that farmers are currently obliged to remove hazardous hedges and trees by road safety legislation, but at the same time prohibited from doing it by the Wildlife Act. “I don’t think that’s fair to anybody,” she said. “My department’s legal advisers pointed to the conflict. I’m now in the process of implementing the legal advice with this amendment.”

Opposition senators countered that the amendment was an attempt to lift restrictions on hedge cutting during the closed period and offered insufficient regulation. “It is a destruction of heritage, it is a destruction of our hedgerows, it is a destruction of the beauty of our landscape,” said Green Party senator Grace O’Sullivan.

This prompted Minister Humphreys to react angrily at the opposition she had faced since bringing the bill to the Seanad. Watch her response in the video below:

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Full coverage: Hedge cutting and burnign dates debate