Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank my colleague, Deputy Andrew Doyle, and the committee for bringing this important issue to the House. We must maximise for economic purposes the land available to us, whether arable land or marginal land, as each has its own particular use. It is up to us to develop those uses, bearing in mind the regulation in regard to climate change while, at the same time, maximising our export potential to the best of our ability. Some people may see those issues at variance with each other. I am not a believer in the theory that people will eat less food in the future. Everybody has to eat. As the population increases the demand for food will increase also. We are in a particularly unique position in Ireland in that we can produce food better than anybody else, much more efficiently and with less emissions, and we do it competitively. In any negotiations, we must keep in mind at all times the importance of ensuring we are allowed do that. Some say this is hugely damaging to the environment but farmers in this country have been looking after the environment for hundreds of years and have done so very effectively. The scientific evidence will show that.

The challenges ahead are how to maximise the potential in respect of the arable land, increase employment in the agrifood sector and increase exports in line with Food Harvest 2020, particularly in the aftermath of milk quotas. We must recognise that as long as there is a marketplace, somebody will produce the food to fill that market need. Given that we have a very effective and efficient food production system, obviously this is the place to do it. There will be those who will say one cannot do that in the future. Experts usually emerge at times like this and say we must reduce our carbon emissions. We must, we can and we will do so. We have to minimise to the greatest extent possible our reliance on fossil fuels as a means of energy production while maximising our potential in regard to the use of marginal land for tree growing purposes. My old hobby horse in relation to trees is that there are so many experts. Not only is the country full of experts but Europe and the world are full of experts. One thing we should remember about tree growing is that certain trees have a greater capacity than others to absorb carbons. That poor unfortunate Sitka spruce is probably the best one. It is much maligned by planners the length and breadth of this country because it is claimed it is not a native species and comes from Scandinavian countries.

We should also remember that there is a Scots pine in the Céide Fields that is 5,000 years old. I do not know how it came to be there because modern planning criteria would suggest it appeared only in the past couple of years. We need to recognise there is great potential to increase and improve afforestation on the lands that are most suitable for that. It is not a great idea to use up valuable arable or tillage land for that purpose when there is an adequate amount of marginal land available the length and breadth of the country.

The other issue is how to use the land for recreational purposes. For example, the recent announcement about tourism in County Longford indicates the very good economic use we can make of particular lands, drawing in a large area of the surrounding countryside to its economic benefit. As a result, the country’s economy receives a boost.

We will always have competitors who will denigrate what we do and say something else must be done. We need only ensure that we do right by the environment and the food producers and by reasonable, efficient use of the available land. We must also have regard to habitats directives. Greater consideration needs to be given to the impact of the directives, not after the event but beforehand. Lessons have, I hope, been learned in recent years, because it is possible to accede to the general requirements of the habitats directives without interfering with economic activity on the land.

It is approximately 60 years since any major land drainage was done, and that needs to be dealt with. If not, climate change will bring heavier rainfalls and drainage will be a moot issue. Some experts believe we should have national wetlands, which would be of great benefit to the world’s economy, but they would not be too beneficial to our economy. In any future negotiations on such issues we need to keep in mind the uses to which we propose to put the various lands, separating the arable from the marginal. There is nothing wrong with having adequate drainage to ensure the water table does not rise, because if we do not have adequate drainage and river cleaning from time to time we will end up with an entire flood plain. That is not to the economic or environmental benefit of the country. It might be grand for frogs but it will not be of any great economic benefit.

Clever, effective use of our land in respect of housing, agricultural production and leisure activity can increase our economic benefit dramatically, above and beyond anything we have so far envisaged. We can prove that to our colleagues throughout Europe and globally because we must engage with experts globally far more than we used to. If we concentrate on those issues we can do whatever has to be done, such as considering alternatives to our dependence on fossil fuels. I do not know what they will be. There is a debate on wind energy. Some do not like it but those who are far from wind farms are happy enough with it. Those whose environs are directly affected take a different view. One way or the other, however, we have to find realistic alternatives. There is not much sense in proposing something that will not happen for 30 or 40 years. We need to depend on the alternatives we can produce fairly quickly because an acceleration of climate change may leave us with very limited options. Whether it is nuclear energy, which I do not agree with, or biofuels, which are fine but one has to grow a great deal before meeting the requirement, we need to agree a strategy and proceed from there.

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