From Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
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The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is responsible for overseeing the control and the prevention of the spread of certain weeds under the Noxious Weeds Act, 1936.
Under the Noxious Weeds Act, 1936, it is an offence for owners and occupiers of land not to prevent the spread of certain weeds, as specified in the following Statutory Instruments:
• Statutory Instrument No 103/1937 - Noxious Weeds (Thistle, Ragwort, and Dock) Order, 1937
• Statutory Instrument No. 120/1958 - Noxious Weeds (Common Barberry) Order, 1958
• Statutory Instrument No. 189/1965 - Noxious Weeds (Male Wild Hop Plant) Order, 1965
• Statutory Instrument No. 194/1973 - Noxious Weeds (Wild Oat) Order 1973
The above Orders (Statutory Instruments) currently specify ragwort, dock, thistle, common barberry, wild hop and wild oat as noxious weeds.
Each of the above Orders provide that the land subject to the controls of noxious weeds is defined as the ‘whole of the State’.
In the ten-year period 2014-2023, there were 198 complaints relating to noxious weeds made to the Department and 60% of these related to agricultural land. All complaints in this period related to ragwort, thistle or dock or a combination of these.
The Department issues ‘Notices to Destroy’ letters in all instances where it becomes aware of the presence of noxious weeds, either as a result of inspections or as a result of reports made by the public. The owner of lands on which these weeds are present and not being controlled is subject to the provisions of the Act.
The Department also engages with all County Councils, Local Authorities and the National Roads Authority to ensure a consistent programme of treatment and disposal of such weeds on an ongoing basis.
Please note that invasive plant species, such as Japanese knotweed and Himalayan balsam are not included in the Noxious Weeds Act. Separate legislation, namely the European Union (Invasive Alien Species) Regulations 2024 (S.I. No. 374 of 2024) provides for addressing issues relating to invasive species. The Regulations address the Invasive Alien Species of European Union Concern and sets out a list of Invasive Alien Species of National Concern.
In recent months a review of the Noxious Weeds legislation was completed, in particular, to consider a request from stakeholders to add Blackgrass to the list of noxious weeds and also to determine if the original list was still appropriate and in line with biodiversity policy.
It is now opportune to seek the views of the public in respect of outcome of the review and any other proposed amendments to the Noxious weeds legislation.
It is proposed to repeal the above listed Statutory Instruments and replace them with a new Statutory Instrument to address the following proposals:
1. Proposed: The inclusion of Blackgrass as a noxious weed and made subject to the provisions of the Noxious Weeds Act, 1936. In addition, ragwort and wild oat will continue to be included, limiting of controls to certain species of thistle and dock and the removal of common barberry and male wild hop.
2. Proposed: The new legislation will include the scientific names, rather than common names of the prescribed noxious weeds.
Comment: Amending the legislation to specify botanical names is considered a move in the right direction towards not discriminating unnecessarily on plants sharing the same general name but are not noxious weeds. In the absence of the scientific names, as an example, all plants known as thistle or dock would be included.
Accordingly the legislation will limit controls to certain species of thistle (Cirsium vulgare, Spear thistle and Cirsium arvense, Creeping thistle) and dock (Rumex obtusifolius and Rumex crispus). In the absence of the scientific names, all plants known as thistle or dock would be included.
Complaints on these plants continue to be made to this Department and it is considered that controls are necessary, but that enforcement is not necessary if the plants do not pose a risk to agricultural land. Therefore, there are now certain species of thistle and dock, which under the new proposals, would not be subject to controls.
3. Proposed: The new legislation will continue to specify the land to be controlled as the 'whole of the State'.
Comment: This is to ensure that action can be taken where there is a risk to agricultural land. Enforcement guidance will be prepared to ensure that action is only taken when there is a risk to agricultural land, as determined by a risk assessment.
If noxious weeds are reported and found on non-agricultural land, an assessment should be conducted by an Officer of the Department and if it is the opinion of the Officer there is no threat to agricultural land, then no enforcement or further action should be taken.
Noxious weeds are best controlled before they seed, spread and threaten agricultural land with infestation and enforcement action will be supported by guidance. This will mean that the threat to agricultural land is mitigated, but at the same time plants that are essential from a biodiversity perspective are protected in other areas.
Feedback on the proposals set out above or on any other matter relating to noxious weeds and their control should be submitted in writing to the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine via e-mail with reference to “Noxious Weeds” to: NWconsultation@agriculture.gov.ie .
All submissions should include a short summary of not more than 300 words setting out the main points therein. Submissions from organisations or groups should include a brief background on the membership, aims and objectives of that organisation or group.
All written feedback to the proposal should be submitted by 4 p.m. on 30 November 2024. Any submissions received after this deadline will not be taken into consideration.
We are committed to engaging with stakeholders in a clear, open, and transparent manner. Any person or organisation can make a submission in relation to this consultation. All submissions and feedback will be considered by the Department Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
Please note that it is intended that all submissions received may be made available under the Freedom of Information Act 2014 (FOI) and will be published on the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine website.
In responding to this consultation, parties should clearly indicate where their responses contain personal information, commercially sensitive information, or confidential information that they would not wish to be released under FOI or published on the department’s website.
We would like to draw your attention to the Department Agriculture, Food and the Marine's Data Protection Data Privacy Notice, which is available on our website and explains how and when we collect personal data, why we do so and how we treat this information. It also explains your rights in relation to the collection of personal information and how you can exercise those rights.