Kate O'Connell (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Everything is supposed to be climate proofed now. Everything is supposed to have that consideration. There was a concerted effort to reduce fragmentation - pockets of land - and make things more efficient, but some of this Bill will have a negative effect on that policy. I cannot see how it is not a consideration. I would like the Department to consider it. The people who are taking over these farms are the people with the hedgerows, the grasslands, the land that will be planted, GLAS and so on. They are the ones on whom we will be dependent to decarbonise our economy and to cool the environment. There are positive benefits to efficient, progressive farming, larger farms and making it possible for younger farmers to afford to get land without buying it. We must consider all of that if we are serious about the climate issue.