The Green Party is calling on government to make available a central fund to local authorities for the proper management of roadside trees.

Senator Malcolm Noonan made the call in the Seanad this week where he expressed concern about calls from politicians for a derogation on the hedge cutting season.

Those calls came in the wake Storm Éowyn which resulted in fallen trees damaging electricity and broadband infrastructure, along with blocking roads.

Under the  Wildlife Act 1976, the “cutting, grubbing, burning or other destruction of vegetation” growing in any hedge or ditch between March 1 and August 31 is not allowed.

Senator Noonan noted that the legislation already accommodates roadside safety as an exemption.

The senator, who is a former minister for nature, added that the proper maintenance, pruning and reduction of roadside trees would be better for nature, for farming and resilience in the face of future severe weather events.

Senator Noonan suggested that local authorities "could draw on a central fund to engage contractors to reduce ash trees suffering from dieback".

He added that this fund could also be used "to prune and reduce roadside trees more generally", which could reduce the risk of storm damage over a few seasons and allow for the continued ecosystem benefits provided by trees.

The senator said that calls for complete removal of trees were "misguided and that there is a value in leaving trees, even ash standing but safe from a road safety point of view".

The senator pointed to research in the UK which suggests that there may be hope for ash trees in the countryside and that older trees in some parts of the country may be more resilient to the fungus.

"I have witnessed widespread removal of roadside trees over the past few weeks, in particular.

"We could be unwittingly removing dieback tolerant ash trees, preventing them from setting seed and all that really needs to be done is to make them safe on our roadsides.

"Even standing diseased trees can provide habitats to many species," he said.

Senator Noonan is planning to write to the ministers for agriculture, local government and nature and heritage asking them "to work together to put the case for a significant fund to be made specifically available for sustainable management of roadside trees and hedgerows".

"During my time in office, we developed and piloted a training course for contractors with the Laois Offaly ETB to better maintain hedgerows for nature.

"A national rollout of this programme (as actioned in the National Biodiversity Action Plan) would lead to better management of hedgerows and roadside trees for nature, for farming, protection of services to rural communities and for road safety," he said.

"A centrally available and rolling fund for training and to better manage and maintain roadside trees, in particular ash would in my view be a positive step forward in future-proofing infrastructure, road safety and nature conservation," Senator Noonan added.