Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I would like to apologise. Like other Deputies and Senators, I was dipping in and out of a meeting. The economic impact this could have on our agricultural entities has not been quantified in so many ways. We are looking at the co-operative movements, the meat factories and all the way down to the merchants. If were to bring this forward, the 20% rewetting proposal, it would have a huge economic impact across the rural hinterland. A real study needs to be done on what that would mean for these entities, for us as a community, for us as a farming community and for west Cork and Longford. These rural entities would in so many ways be grossly affected. I do not know where one would go to quantify it.

The big thing here is that the majority of rural people and farmers did not realise this would affect the majority of farmers. They thought it would affect a minority of farmers. The majority are going to be tied into this. That will be the pinch point here. This is going to affect you, whether you are in dairy, beef, sheep or forestry. You are all in the circle here and you are all tied in, with the potential of anything up to 20% or more of your land being rewetted. What that would mean for you, as an entity, whether you are sustainably farming, is probably negative. It would probably mean that you will not be in a position to hand on your farm even though, like all of us, you try to build up your farm to move it on. You do not want to go backwards. That is probably where this measure is going to go.

We had a session last Wednesday. These sessions have been really informative for the general public. For the first time, the public realise what is being proposed here. Last week's session, in particular, gave an indication of what is on the table. People and farmers never thought it would come to this. We need to build on it and we need to get that message out there. The impact for rural Ireland and not just the farming community is unbelievable. We have co-operatives that have invested hundreds of millions of euro in stainless steel. Meat plants and merchants are going to be devastated if this happens.