Minister McConalogue seeks citizen and stakeholder views on proposed changes to the Noxious Weeds legislation
- Published on: 1 November 2024
- Last updated on: 20 December 2024
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue T.D., today announced the opening of a public consultation on proposed changes to legislation under the Noxious Weeds Act, 1936. This will include the repeal of existing Statutory Instruments and replacing them with a new Statutory Instrument to provide for new, additional inclusions under the noxious weeds legislation, such as blackgrass, and the removal of others. The consultation process will be open for a four-week period from 1st November 2024 to 30th November 2024.
Referring to the public consultation, the Minister said:
“I welcome the opening of this public consultation on the Noxious Weeds legislation as it is important that we engage with stakeholders and the public to hear their views on this issue. It is timely that this legislation is reviewed to ensure that the treatment of noxious weeds reflects modern practices and current challenges, including threats such as Blackgrass.”
It is proposed to add blackgrass to the list of controlled weeds, the retention of ragwort and wild oat as noxious weeks whilst the limiting of controls to certain species of thistle and dock and the removal of common barberry and male wild hop.
Guidance on enforcement is also proposed to ensure that action will only be taken where there is a risk to agricultural land to ensure that plants that are essential from a biodiversity perspective are protected in areas where there is no threat to agricultural land.
The Minister further commented:
“I am pleased to progress the commitment I made in relation to bringing forward proposals to include blackgrass in the Noxious Weeds legislation. In addition, the proposed changes include enforcement guidance, which will help raise awareness of the importance of biodiversity and ensure controls are restricted to where there is a threat to agricultural land.”
Written submissions should be sent by email to: NWconsultation@agriculture.gov.ie with reference to “Noxious Weeds” in the subject line.
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 4.00pm on 30th November 2024. Any submissions received after this deadline will not be taken into consideration.
A consultation notice will be published on the Department’s website from 1st November 2024 at the following address: gov.ie - Public Consultation on Proposed Changes to the Noxious Weeds Legislationgov.ie - Public Consultation on Proposed Changes to the Noxious Weeds Legislation
ENDS
Note for Editors
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, specified in secondary legislation. The legislation currently includes ragwort, dock, thistle, common barberry, wild hop and wild oat.