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

Being conscious of it is different from making sure there will be money to back it up, which is what we want. That is the clear ambition of farmers and what they deserve to have. The fear among them, particularly those working on more marginal land and land that is difficult to farm, is that all of these environmental measures will be left to them and that in other parts of the country where there is what we would call more productive land the tasks to deal with the environmental impact of climate change will be less onerous. We need balance. In much of the north west where we see a huge amount of forestry and a strong emphasis on biodiversity, greening and so on, farmers consider they are doing this to make up for what is happening in other areas where there is intensive farming. While that is not to say there is anything wrong with intensive farming, there is a need for a sense of balance. Farmers need to be provided with an assurance that they will be remunerated for the work they do in that type of farming.

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