Independent TD for Offaly Carol Nolan has said she will bring forward a private members bill this week on the issue of farm trespassing.

The TD said that her legislation, which will be brought forward on Wednesday (September 24), is aimed at addressing the offence of trespassing on farm and agricultural land.

The bill, which is titled Criminal Justice (Trespass on land) Bill 2025, would amend Section 13 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994.

The current wording of that section says: "It shall be an offence for a person, without reasonable excuse, to trespass on any building or the curtilage thereof in such a manner as causes or is likely to cause fear in another person."

In legal terminology a "curtilage" is any land immediately surrounding a house or other building which forms an enclosure around the house, but it does not refer to land beyond that, such as farmland.

Nolan's bill would amend the 1994 act so the section would say: "It shall be an offence for a person, without reasonable excuse, to trespass on any building or other land thereof in such a manner as causes or is likely to cause fear in another person."

Commenting on her proposed bill, Nolan said: "I made a firm commitment after the [last General Election] that I would engage with the Office of the parliamentary legal advisor within the Oireachtas to see what we could achieve with respect to addressing the rise in reports of trespass from organisations representing farmers in rural Ireland.

"If accepted, I believe it would introduce a greater level of legal clarity for farmers and landowners and it would also significantly expand the scope of the physical area that would be captured within the law of trespass," she added.

According to Nolan, the offence of trespassing effects wider rural communities as well as farmers and landowners, particularly when the trespassing occurs as part of activities such as lurching and unauthorised use of quads, scramblers and motorcycles on agricultural land.

"The bill simply seeks to broaden the scope of existing legislation to capture not just the land on which the farm buildings and the curtilage of buildings are situated, but all farm and agricultural land," she said.

The TD added: "I believe this bill is a modest but important contribution toward the ongoing work of assisting farmers and landowners in dealing with the scourge of trespass which is continuing to make a misery of so many people's lives."