Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 12 September 2018

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action

Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Environmental Pillar

10:00 am

Photo of Michelle MulherinMichelle Mulherin (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In general, I do not mind who answers. What has been said here shows that people have interesting and useful perspectives. We are trying to drill down to find actions for how to proceed. I do not agree with my colleague, Deputy Eamon Ryan.

We have to recognise there is an urban-rural divide because a lot of what we talk about needing to be done will affect rural areas. More will be required of people in rural Ireland, in respect of how they live, land use and so on, than will be required of people in the cities. For example, there will be an issue if the peat-fired power stations are closed down. I know people acknowledge there is an issue but this involves an urban-rural divide. There will be an issue with the fallout from what people are being asked to do in terms of the local economy and so on. It is a similar case with regard to farmers. It is not much consolation to hear that our farmers are the most carbon efficient in the dairy sector and the fifth most efficient in the beef sector. It does not really matter because of the actions of the Germans. I do not think they are a good example in terms of their credentials in respect of the environmental aspects of cars, especially those of one particular brand.

We need to say that food is different. We need to be fed. If it is desired to set a standard or a bar and we set it, other countries involved in farming need to recognise that. I get that farmers in Belgium will not roll over and let Ireland do as we like; we have a market going on here. I am for setting the standard if we get recognition that this is the way to farm and that this the most carbon efficient way to farm. If we are setting the standard, there should be some recognition for it. I do not find it very satisfying to hear in the general discussion that there are all these different sectors and that farming will just have to step up to the plate the same as everyone else. One cannot modify a cow in the way one can modify a car. There are certain issues and certain realities involved. We have to eat. Wind farms are not being built and transmission lines are not being put up in the middle of cities. One does not hear of all these protests. Sometimes it is literally like representing a whole different country in respect of some of the issues that are really pertinent to rural Ireland.

If the peat-burning power station is removed, one then runs into the issue of what other investment can be made there to support work, jobs and investment and into this issue of critical mass. It is said that an area does not have a critical mass. The case for extending the Luas in the city is always better than our case. It then becomes a vicious circle. We lose population and we lose young people because of the way the economy is run. We might achieve some nice desires, such as building a community centre or a football pitch, but more than that is required. We need a tipping point to make rural Ireland sustainable environmentally but also sustainable from an economic point of view.

Mr. Stanley-Smith pointed out the problem with draining high-carbon lands but not being able to drain goes back to farmers again. I assume it also applies to Coillte if it is doing drainage works for forestry, which we are encouraging though I know there is a dispute over what the nature of the trees should be. To go back again, we have the habitats and birds directives. Farmers are crippled. Some 55% of lands in my county are designated. Farmers are severely restricted. I met a farmer who was asking to fence off a drain near his land. He was told by the National Parks and Wildlife Service to go downstream and to put in a sump on a stream to protect freshwater pearl mussels on adjoining lands that were not even his.

It is not just that. The road from Galway to Clifden is running into difficulties on account of running partly through a special area of conservation, SAC. We have had serious difficulties in upgrading one of our national primary roads in Mayo, the N26, because of freshwater pearl mussels and whooper swans. I am talking about upgrading and realigning roads that are already there. A whole area in which there is already settlement is an SAC. It is an SAC even though there is already significant settlements of human beings in the area. There is no recognition of this. It is the same in Glenisland. We got money to build a bridge but it cannot be built because it is a designated area for freshwater pearl mussels. As I said at a meeting of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, wild mushrooms are rarer than freshwater pearl mussels in Mayo. I am not being facetious but we have to get the balance right. Whatever we do, we must recognise the additional burden on people in rural Ireland in terms of infrastructure and restricting their lifestyles.

Farmers were encouraged to invest in the dairy and other sectors to achieve our food production targets under Food Wise 2025. Are the delegates now making the point that we should scale back on the level of food production and decrease the size of the national herd because of the level of carbon emissions?

Moneypoint is a coal-fired power station which is proposed to be converted. I understand there is a similar coal-burning power plant in Wales which has been partially modified for the use of biomass. The point has been made that there is no sustainable biomass supply in Ireland to decommission the coal-fired power station completely. What can we learn from the experience of the Welsh power plant?

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.