The role of the Seanad is a recurring theme of political debate but the Upper House has been living up to its responsibilities in recent months with the stiff opposition being put up by senators to provisions of the Heritage Bill 2016 which would have a damaging impact on wildlife.
This is an issue which might not get much attention in the Dáil but senators from a variety of political parties and none have mounted stiff opposition to section eight of the Bill which would allow the dates for hedgerow cutting and gorse burning to be extended from March to August.
A range of groups have called on the Seanad to block the proposed changes which they say ignore science and would equate to a death sentence for a number of wildlife species. Representatives from BirdWatch Ireland, the Federation of Irish Beekeepers' Associations, the Hedge Laying Association of Ireland, the Irish Wildlife Trust and An Taisce have protested outside the gates of Leinster House at the provisions of the Bill which would allow cutting of hedgerows from August 1st and the burning and destroying of upland habitats from March 1st.
There have been suggestions in recent days that Minister for Heritage Heather Humphreys may be forced to rethink the issue by Fianna Fáil. The Minister has an opportunity to show that she is capable of responding to genuine concerns raised about the Heritage Bill rather than following blindly the dictates of the farming lobby.
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One of the flawed arguments in favour of the Bill is that it is designed to improve road safety. However current legislation already allows for hedges to be cut on health and safety grounds and the Roads Act 1993 would be a more appropriate vehicle to bring though road safety amendments.
Environmental groups are united in the view that the planned changes provided for in the Heritage Bill would have a devastating impact on biodiversity and particularly on bird species like yellowhammer and curlew which have undergone declines of more than 90 per cent in their breeding populations in recent decades. Section eight of the Bill should be scrapped.