Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am very concerned about the rushed nature of the Bill. It is important legislation but it is being rushed through. I also have serious concerns about the fact there has not been enough engagement or collaboration with the farming organisations, which have a number of concerns regarding the Bill. That also concerns me because it should be about listening to what everybody has to say to ensure we get the legislation as right as it can be and that it is robust and fair. I call on the Minister of State to have further engagement with the farming organisations in the State on this issue.

We are all agreed on the need for a system of controls to protect our environment and implement measures to control the abstraction of freshwater and groundwater and the impoundment of fresh surface water. As the Minister of State will be aware, however, there are serious concerns about certain provisions and sections of the Bill, which have been raised by farming organisations such as the Irish Farmers' Association, IFA, in recent times.

There are issues relating to compensation and the perception that the Bill grants excessive powers to the Minister, particularly with respect to the definition of "licensing threshold" and "registration threshold". The IFA said this, in particular, creates massive levels of uncertainty for farmers and it needs it addressed urgently. That is why I am asking the Minister of State and Government, which is supposed to represent rural Ireland, to please spend more time engaging with the farming organisations, which have legitimate concerns. They know what they are talking about and know the facts and implications of bad legislation.

My colleague, Senator Boyhan, moved a number of amendments in the Seanad recently seeking to have these deficiencies addressed. In total, the Senator moved nine different amendments. Unfortunately, these were not accepted, which means the concerns farmers have remain. It is it is disappointing that rural Senators from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have turned their backs on farmers and on the farming organisations in respect of the amendments that my Independent colleague tabled.

The IFA is also seeking challenges to the exemptions in Part 3 relating to the water abstraction necessary for animal welfare purposes. Senator Boyhan also referred to this in the Seanad debate on the Bill last week. He made it clear that the IFA requested that this exemption be included because besides water availability, the quality of water has a direct impact on the welfare of animals because livestock need to drink more water under heat stress than when forage conditions are poor. Overall, the IFA believes we need to do more to ensure the animal welfare aspect can be protected in order that we can provide the highest quality produce to Irish customers and to our trading partners. This is the rationale, which I hope the Minister of State will accept.

In the wider sense, there is also the perception that farmers are somehow not doing their fair share or playing their part when it comes to protecting freshwater supply and surface and groundwater. I have repeatedly made clear my own dissatisfaction with the whole narrative and, indeed, with the EPA in that regard. The EPA is pointing the finger and almost putting the blame entirely on farmers, which is not the truth. Indeed, in the latest Focus on Local Authority Environmental Enforcement Performance Report, the EPA calls for increased inspections and greater enforcement of environmental regulations on farms. However, this is despite the fact that last year's quality report from the European Commission demonstrated clear signs of water quality improvement in Ireland. As I understand from research by the IFA, the report shows improvements in 152 of the 726 water bodies that were prioritised areas for action in the water framework directive, River Basin Management Plan for Ireland 2018 - 2021. In that context, the constant attacks and criticism farmers receive from the likes of the EPA amounts to demonisation and can only add to the perception of farm families as environmental laggards when nothing could be further from the truth.

I am aware that the EPA placed County Offaly among the five lowest performing local authorities along with counties Mayo, Sligo, Wexford and Waterford when it comes to enforcement and inspections. I am also aware, however, that farmers in County Offaly move heaven and earth to ensure they nourish the land they cherish, which provides their families with a living, as increasingly difficult as that is. I am sick and tired of agencies like the EPA pouring out this toxic and incorrect perception of farmers when it comes to environmental ambition. Where is the sense of proportion, balance or fact?

As I said, the EPA is now asking for increased inspections and higher levels of enforcement, as if farmers were routinely engaged in bad environmental practices and were just getting away with it because of a lax regime. Nothing could be further from the truth. Farmers are the most highly regulated people of any profession. Indeed, the regulatory burden of the new CAP programme makes that explicit. Farmers will gladly work with a regulatory system that is fair and proportional and that takes their genuine needs into account.

They cannot operate within a system that does not reflect the experience of operating a farm where the water extraction needs that inevitably arise are not catered for in a prudent and responsible manner.

It would serve the EPA better to look at where Irish Water as a regulatory body is falling down in terms of poor sewerage infrastructure, which is causing problems, is a problem in my constituency and is regularly reported to Irish Water. There are housing developments with significant ongoing issues. It would serve that agency better to look at that, instead of demonising farming families.

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