The spread of the deadly weed ragwort, caused by increased road construction and industrial development, is creating problems for farmers and park superintendents.
Farmers were warned yesterday that they stand to lose part of their EU farm payment if they fail to keep the weed - which can kill cattle and horses and can also harm people - under control.
Ground workers in Dublin's Phoenix Park, who were told to pull the weed by hand, demanded protective gloves when removing the plant, which has daisy-like yellow flowers.
Last night a spokesman for the OPW parks division said they had been given training and protective gloves before being sent to remove the weed. "Some of the staff in the park were unhappy about having to remove the weeds. It is a very boring job to do it by hand but we cut most of it by machinery," he said.
Farmers have been warned they will lose part of their single farm payment from the EU if they fail to control ragwort and other weeds on their lands. Tom Dunne, chairman of the Irish Farmers Association's national environment committee, has called for the enforcement of the 1936 Noxious Weeds Act.
"There appears to be a complete breakdown in the mechanism to enforce the Noxious Weeds Act, which has seen the spread of ragwort from construction and wasteland areas on to farmland."
Mr Dunne said that while moist, mild weather conditions in recent summers had been conducive to the weed's spread the key reason was lack of enforcement of the Act.
A Department of Agriculture spokesman said it had been inundated with calls about the spread of ragwort since it was mentioned in a humorous article by Kevin Myers in The Irish Times. "Any calls we have got we have passed to our inspectorate who will either inform local authorities or other landowners that they are in breach of the law if they allow the weed grow on their lands," he said.
"Farmers themselves should be aware that they alone are responsible for the eradication of the weed on their own lands and if they fail to control it they could be penalised under the terms of the single farm payment."