Vol. 446 No. 7
166 Mrs. Doyle asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the number of prosecutions for ragwort; the powers, if any, he has under the Noxious Weeds Act, 1936; the powers, if any, he has to serve ragwort clearance notices under this Act; the enforcement procedures that are in place; and the number of prosecutions under the Act for each of the last five years. [2944/94]
Ragwort is scheduled as a noxious weed under the Noxious Weeds Act, 1936.
Powers provided for under the Act include those of (i) entry onto lands for inspection purposes, (ii) the service of notices on persons responsible for lands on which noxious weeds are growing to clear such weeds and (iii) prosecution in cases where notices to destroy weeds are not complied with.
There have been no prosecutions under the Act in the past five years. Modern farming has reached a level at which weed control is seen as a fundamental and automatic element in good farm husbandry practice. My Department and the advisory services of Teagasc continue to issue publicity statements and information leaflets on the control of noxious weeds and, in the course of normal contacts with farmers, draw attention to the need for weed control where appropriate.
