Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The reason agriculture has been singled out is that it represents such a large portion of the Irish economy, compared with the economies of other countries. That is the point I made at the very beginning. Across Europe or elsewhere, economies have big industrial sectors. When those countries look at what they are going to do to mitigate climate change, they look at the sector that has the accounts for the biggest portion and people do the same here. They are not giving any consideration to the huge work that has been done in agriculture to try to mitigate carbon dioxide emissions.

We have talked about the forestry issue quite a lot. The part of the country I am from has huge amounts of forestry. We have already surpassed the national quota and have probably far exceeded it. Agro-forestry was mentioned. I googled it a few minutes ago, and in the Department's agro-forestry scheme an amount of about half the size of a farming grant is awarded. A sum of €250 per hectare is given to the farmer as a premium for only five years. If the farmer plants all their land, however, they get the premium for 15 years. There is huge imbalance there immediately, which discourages people from going into it.

Furthermore, the trees must be planted on good tree-draining land that does not need drainage. This practically rules out the areas of natural constraint, which are the areas where an alternative must be found if we are to keep communities of people living there. That is what we need to do. If we are not prepared to do that, if we want to plant all of that part of the country so that there can be more cows in the Golden Vale or other areas, then let us be honest and tell the people of Leitrim, Sligo and west Cavan to go away and live somewhere else, or move into a town or the city. If that is what the Government wants us to do, it needs to come and tell us that.

When I look out my door all I see are trees and never a human being. There is nobody. Just the other evening I was outside, power-washing the front of the house, and in three hours one car passed. I repeat, one car. There is nobody living in rural Ireland. They are all gone, because there is no employment, no work and no hope and the only solution we keep getting to plant more trees.

I am sorry but climate change or no climate change, at some stage we must fight back and say we deserve better than that. Our children and their future deserve that we should have a place to live in our community and that we should prosper there, just as anyone should hope to in their community. It seems that all we are going to do with it is plant it. That is all I hear. I was delighted when the witness said agro-forestry was in the scheme. I googled it and I saw that it is an option. People can try it, but it is clearly not an option for us. Can that change? Can we make it an option for rural Ireland?

The committee has heard about elephant grass, willow, hemp, and all the other things that people come up with every so often. I know a man who got a licence to do to grow hemp and did quite well at it for a couple of years, and on poor land. The market is the problem, however. Why can we not get it right? Why can other countries get it right? Why can Americans grow it profitably and export it to us, but we cannot? What is wrong? Is somebody powerful somewhere making too much money out of growing coniferous trees? Is that what is wrong? Do the ordinary people on the ground not matter? Is that the problem? Is there an imbalance in power here? If that is really what it is about, then we need to name that, call it out and stop it.