Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I recently attended an agricultural meeting to discuss the draft EU nature restoration plan, which proposes the restoration and rewetting of approximately 700,000 acres of drained peatlands. Even if we restore all the available Bord na Móna and Coillte lands, we are still looking at approximately 500,000 acres to be restored and rewetted by 2050. This is enormous. It is the biggest land use change we could possibly imagine in Ireland. It would cover, for example, approximately 80% of all the agricultural land in Sligo and Leitrim. Furthermore, the Government plans for 1.25 million acres of forestry by 2050. If the two proposals are taken together, that is 2 million acres. I am not asking for a full stop.

I am asking for a pause in order that there can be a proper impact assessment of the cumulative impact of the enormous change in land use being pursued by the Government.

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