The Irish Farmers Association is demanding the burning of scrubland deadline should be extended until the end of March to allow farmers to burn gorse.
Following the recent damp weather IFA National Hill Farming Chairman Flor McCarthy said farmers need the extra time.
“Where land is burned, it is done in a managed way. Controlled gorse burning has not happened yet this year because there was no opportunity due to the wet weather,” he explained.
“Flexibility will allow hill farmers to deal with the practical issues they face in managing their hill farms. Wildfires we have seen in the past month can be avoided if the window for burning is extended to include the month of March.”
The current deadline is 1 March and it is an offence to cut, grab or burn vegetation between the beginning of March and 31 August.
There are no figures available for the number of uncontrolled gorse fires across the country but in Kerry the fire service tended to 28 gorse fires in just one night in February.
However, the Irish Wildlife Trust says the burning of scrubland is not limited to the months between September and March.
Campaign officer Pádraic Fogarty said: “People are burning when conditions allow. We see a lot of fires in February when vegetation is quick to dry out and in March, April and May. It has very little to do with regulations and more to do with the weather.”
He also said the annual burning is unsustainable for wildlife and that government policy should include legislation which benefits both farmers and the environment.
LSL News.