Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister's answer is quite vague in respect of many of these issues. Some of the aspects that concern many farmers are that the conditions that will be set out in these proposals will be ones they would normally have seen coming through the environmental programme such as GLAS, REPS or other schemes in the past. If they are to be taken up in Pillar 1, farmers are concerned about what will be in Pillar 2, which may be more extreme or onerous on them than what they have had until now.

I would like more information on the protection of wetlands, peatlands and so on. That would have a major impact, particularly on farmers with poorer quality, marginal and mountain-type land where they find it very difficult to make a living. If more hardships are to be placed on them in terms of those kinds of environmental protections, they need to see that they will get an adequate return for that, in other words, that they are paid for the public good they provide by the way they already farm. That is not too much to ask. If this is something that will be just a condition of Pillar 1, those conditions will be for everybody. Extra emphasis will be put on those farmers, and that needs to be paid for in terms of the public good they provide. They need to see that there is a clear avenue for that to happen.

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