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Dáil
‹ An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business

Hedge cutting intimidation

Summary

Mattie McGrath complained that NGO-linked individuals were intimidating farmers and machinery operators over hedge cutting and road safety work. The Ceann Comhairle brought in Minister of State Malcolm Noonan, who said the Wildlife Act and hedge-cutting issues were under review and asked for details to investigate.

We all want to respect the hedgerows and biodiversity but ladies and gentlemen are going around in cars and vans taking on the role of officers of some State body or something. They are part of an NGO which is intimidating ordinary workers driving machines, cutting hedges for health and safety reasons by order of the county council and sometimes for farmers to stop cattle from going over the ditches when the fences are being contacted by briars and weeds. These people are pulling in, causing a danger to traffic and the tractor operator and telling them that they are breaking the law. I understand it is the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, that deals with this. I commend the NPWS officers for engaging with contractors and farmers and being reasonable. We have no time in this country for NGOs that want to act as legal people to try to bully people out of their jobs.

They bully contractors and farmers. This is a shocking situation from a funded NGO-----

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Thank you, Deputy. The Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, will respond.

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-----that people can do this and take the law into their own hands.

Comment on this

I am not sure exactly what issue the Deputy is referring to. Certainly, he is correct regarding the role of the NPWS in the enforcement of the Wildlife Act, which is currently under review in my Department in respect of hedge cutting and other issues. If the Deputy provides the information to me, we can certainly investigate the matter for him.

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