Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 26 October 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Flooding of Lough Funshinagh: Lough Funshinagh Group

Photo of Matt CarthyMatt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I understand the time pressures we are under, but this is an issue the committee will have to return to. It has wide implications. The members will be aware that I have raised this issue and used the Lough Funshinagh farmers as an example. This is precisely the type of situation for which the force majeureprovision is included in the Common Agricultural Policy. To me, it is an absolute scandal that farmers have been penalised because of an act of nature, or whatever we might want to call it, beyond their control. We should be repeating our call for the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, to intervene and to restore all the payments lost in respect of this situation.

The second issue I wish to raise is that this issue, if it were to be replicated in other instances, has the potential to undermine the entire designation system at an EU level. What we have here a designation of an SAC which was put in place to protect the environment and biodiversity and to support communities to protect biodiversity and the environment in their areas.

This designation is now ensuring the very act of trying to save people's homes is challengeable in the courts to such a point that everybody loses, that is, the communities lose, the local economy and wider society lose and the environment loses. The environment has lost in this area.

I understand an environmental impact statement is due to take place in the spring of next year. It cannot take place before that for some reason. Maybe Councillor Fallon or someone else can elaborate on that. It is crucial the authorities are prepared and that we have confidence that each of them, be it the local authority, the OPW or the Department, are equipped and have the capacity to deal with the steps it has been decided they need to get through.

I regret local residents have had to come before an Oireachtas committee. The local residents and community are the people who have suffered as a result of this but they were in no way at fault. The reason we have local authorities, the OPW and Departments is to ensure people themselves do not have to come before the Oireachtas or anywhere else to make a case to save their homes, livelihoods and lands. This is deeply regrettable and I hope lessons are being learned across the board.

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