Parliamentary Question addressed to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the measures in place to ensure compliance in the more rural parts of south Dublin with the Noxious Weed Act 1936 as there are reports of a proliferation of ragwort in the area; and if he will make a statement on the matter?

Reply

The Noxious Weeds Act 1936 provides for the control of the spread noxious weeds. Under the Act it is an offence not to prevent the spread of these noxious weeds. The owner, occupier, user or managers of lands on which these weeds are present are subject to the provisions of the Act, including a fine of up to €1,000 on conviction.

My Department seeks to enforce the provisions of the Act throughout the Country by issuing notices to destroy in all instances where it becomes aware of the presence of noxious weeds.

To date in 2012, a total of 45 such notices have been issued. These notices are issued on receipt of complaints made by the public. Follow-up action may be undertaken by my officials with the landowner/occupier to ensure the notifications are acted upon and that the particular weeds have been dealt with as stipulated in the notice to destroy.

Additionally, under the EU single farm payment scheme, farmers are obliged to keep their lands free from noxious weeds under the cross-compliance measures of the scheme. Failure to do so may result in a reduction of their payment entitlements. In the years 2009, 2010 and 2011 penalties under the single payment were applied to 27, 31 and 46 farmers, respectively, for failure to take appropriate measures to prevent the proliferation of noxious weeds.

My Department continues to engage with all local authorities including South County Dublin Council and bodies such as the National Roads Authority to ensure a consistent programme of treatment and disposal of noxious weeds on public lands and roadsides on an ongoing basis.

In that context my Department wrote to the Managers of each County and Local Authority earlier this year restating their statutory obligations under the Act and reminding them of the importance of implementing measures for the treatment and safe disposal of ragwort.

Additionally, over the course of the last number of years the Department has undertaken a number of public information campaigns to raise awareness of the impact of such weeds and the importance of controlling their growth from the perspective of reducing their spread through the promotion of best practices. These information campaigns have been targeted at both the farming sector and non-traditional land users such as land for development, etc.