The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) has said that the removal of an exemption allowing farmers to burn green waste shows that the government is “totally out of touch”.
Concerns have been raised by farmers across the country as local authorities revealed that the exemption under the Waste Management (Prohibition of Waste Disposal by Burning) Regulations 2009 had lapsed on January 1, 2022.
It allowed farmers to dispose of untreated/uncontaminated wood, trees, trimmings, leaves, bushes or similar materials generated by agricultural practices by burning.
The Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, which is responsible for the legislation, has yet to issue a statement clarifying the matter.
ICSA response
The ICSA is seeking a meeting with the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan in a bid to have the exemption restored.
ICSA Rural Development chair Tim Farrell explained that farmers regularly have to deal with green waste when they tidy up hedges or dead and fallen trees.
“The government is totally out of touch with the practical realities of managing hedges and trees on farms.
“At a time when the CAP [Common Agricultural Policy] Strategic Plan is heavily focused on incentivising more trees and hedges, it just beggars belief that Minister Eamon Ryan would send a very strong signal not to plant any more hedges or trees,” Farrell said
“While farmers generally make every effort to harvest as much firewood as possible, the practical realities are that there will always be material left that has no other practical use,” the ICSA chair added.
“The only cost effective and efficient way of dealing with this is to burn it. It would be prohibitively expensive to hire in a mulching contractor and in some cases, the land isn’t accessible, especially in the wintertime when this kind of work is being done,” he said.
“ICSA is particularly annoyed that there was no consultation whatsoever about this and no effort has been made to engage by Minister Ryan’s department. This is shockingly disrespectful and leaves farmers in an impossible situation,” Farrell concluded.