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

I am sharing time with Deputies Stanley and Ruairí Ó Murchú.

There are fundamental problems that affect the narrative on agriculture, climate change and the transition we all know needs to happen. The fundamental problems lie in the analysis to the effect that, first, farmers are considered enemies of the process of delivering on our climate change obligations and, second, all farmers are essentially the same.

When we speak of beef, for example, the suckler herd is discussed in the same context as factory feedlots. There is no comparison between the two, as suckler farmers can play a very important and positive role, whereas factory feedlots play an almost entirely negative role in an environmental context.

We are told that over the course of the next few days we will face a possible, if not probable, deal between Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party that will be put to their memberships. This will be a pivotal test as to whether the voices of family farmers have been heard. We know many of them were part of the vote for change and the parties to the deal - or at least some of them - have been doing their utmost to deny that mandate for change that was clearly given. It is interesting to hear many conversations emanating from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael representatives to reassure their members that the Green Party will not be disastrous for rural Ireland or Irish family farming. I have my views on whether it will or will not have such an effect but the inference behind this is that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have had a positive influence or been good for rural communities and Irish family farms. I argue that this is entirely a false premise and the parties that have been in government over successive decades have overseen the diminution of the Irish family farm network, which in turn has had a negative impact on rural communities.

One of the big tests we will see coming from a programme for Government, if one is agreed, is the position of the Mercosur trade deal. The Cathaoirleach will recall this Chamber voted by a large majority to reject the Mercosur trade deal but the outgoing Government refused to respect that mandate given in this House by the representatives of the people in this State. Nothing encapsulates the double standards around the discussions on climate change more than the Mercosur trade deal. The conversation almost instructs the suckler farmers with perhaps ten or 12 cattle to reduce their output while at the same time there is implicit support of a European Union trade deal that will see hundreds of thousands of tonnes of additional beef coming into Europe. That is not only hypocritical but downright crazy from an environmental perspective. We know countries like Brazil are not any way close to matching the type of standards our farmers adhere to and that country, conversely, is tearing down rainforests in order to produce beef.

We also know forestry is important. I support the notion of a sustainable forestry policy that can play an important role in our climate action obligations. A good forestry policy should be good for communities and people should want to live beside a forest. It should be good for farmers and forests should present opportunities for diversification. A good forestry policy should be good for the local economy and people should be able to find work locally that would in turn be a driver of local domestic economies. A good forestry policy should of course be good for the environment. Only the geniuses that have run this State for so long could come up with a forestry policy that manages to do none of this.

The test will come before us when we see how these parties answer such questions. The test will come if we see a programme for Government that does not reject the Mercosur agreement, that does not support family suckler farms instead of factory feedlots and that does not support people who wish to move to organic farming. If we do not see a payment scheme for those involved in the process of carbon sequestration, I fear many of our local rural communities and farming families will feel the mandate for change was not heeded on this occasion.

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