Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

In recent years, we have heard that clean green energy was going to save a fortune because we would not have to import, which is correct, and we were told it would be much cheaper. In the past week, however, it has been announced that the ordinary consumer, under the public service obligation, PSO, levy, will pay €70 more from next September on, and that is on top of what was there already. Something like €500 million will now go to these fat cats of wind who will come into this country. Most of the profits from the wind industry are going out of Ireland, even though we are all told they would stay in this country.

Departments should be given proper funding. First, we raised the issue of hedgerows and it has finally been included after four years of knocking at the door. Second, the report on methane in regard to suckler cows shows that using seaweed products has brought that down by 79%. These are the angles we should be looking at, not kicking farmers and saying we should be culling half or three quarters of the national herd.

There is a situation in the midlands, because of this so-called low carbon environment, whereby people have no jobs. We had temporary workers at Bórd na Mona but where are they today? They are unemployed. This is happening right across parts of rural Ireland. However, the people in the cities still want to make sure they have a light to turn on. Security of electricity supply is very important, especially for business. I fear that with this whirlwind we are on about at the moment, we could end up not being able to produce electricity in our country at times, and we will be relying on somebody else.

Under the farm to fork strategy and the biodiversity strategy that Europe is pushing forward, we as a nation are being asked to designate over 30%. When we talk about offshore wind, that will mean 30% out in the Porcupine area and along the west coast. Every type of objector will object to the wind turbines going up in the sea as well, so how is this going to add up?

As public representatives, we need to stand up for the agricultural sector. The biodiversity strategy states that if people have peat land in the mountains where sheep are reared, they would let that back into the wild. From the top of Donegal to the bottom of Kerry, perhaps excluding parts of Limerick, we are going to destroy family farms throughout that area.

We need to cop on and know what we are going to do. Are we going to let these family farms go? If anyone goes down to Listowel in Kerry or goes to a dairy production area, they will find it is reclaimed peatland. What the EU is proposing is to get rid of the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, payment on those peatlands. It is there in black and white in the document under the biodiversity strategy and the new CAP policy. This is detrimental to people and families living in those areas. Some of the farming organisations have been very quiet about this and do not seem to want to comment. However, what I can see, and I have said it many times, is that many people would like to see a theme park Ireland from Donegal down along the west coast and to let the rest keep producing what the people need. That is not going to happen, I can guarantee the House, because we in the west are not going to accept it.

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