Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am glad we are discussing this today. It is apt given the conversations that are all over the airwaves. When I was driving up to Dublin today, I heard it on multiple channels. The Minister was being referred to on multiple channels. I want to speak a little about the politics of this because I am sick and tired of it. I have my own differences with the Green Party but I have a lot in common with it. All I hear is a misconception that this is all the Green Party. You are all in government together, lads. This is not a proposal coming from the Green Party. It is a proposal that is coming from Europe. It is less ambitious than some of the targets set out in our own plans.

Either way, the point is that backbenchers can go on radio stations or speak to journalists and they can blame every Minister, Deputy and Senator from the Green Party but ultimately Government Members all walk through the same lobbies together and they vote as a Government. If Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael do not want this to happen or do not want laws such as this to be passed, they know what to do. They should bring down the Government, vote against it or do whatever is necessary. We have one arm of the Government going in one direction with a law that is necessary, although I have my views on it and would like changes, and another arm of the Government sitting on the backbenches and attacking people on the airwaves and in the media saying it is the Green Party agenda.

I compliment the Green Party on achieving its agenda, which is welcome. It is the party's agenda and it is to be welcomed. There is the idea that there can be a different narrative going in another direction from backbench Deputies who say this is all from the Green Party and that they are against all of it but they are part of the Government. They will still toe the line. We cannot have it one way and not the other. Either the Government is all in this together or it folds. This is what is going on. It is very nasty politics and I do not appreciate it.

To go back to the subject matter, we have a crisis, which we declared in 2019. This needs to be done in a very delicate way. I will update the House that in the past half an hour the EPP has pulled out of negotiations in Europe on this. Its lead negotiator and chairperson just issued a statement stating they are no longer in negotiations. The timelines that I have in front of me include a committee meeting on 15 June and the parliamentary plenary session in July or September. We do not know whether they will go ahead. We need to bear this in mind.

I grew up on a farm. I recall working very hard as a young kid trying to restore land. I live beside the River Shannon and I know all about the restoration of land. I was on a dairy farm for many years. We worked very hard and we were very proud of the land we restored. However, we are now in a situation where collectively we need to bring everyone together. We need to have ambitious targets. I acknowledge some of the actions that have been taken. Actions on commonage, the Burren and a range of other measures that I do not have time to list are very good. We have to change our narrative regarding how we will bring farmers and farming and rural communities with us. Ireland is a very small island. Having spent half of my life before I entered politics in an urban setting because of work versus where I grew up in a rural setting, I despise the urban-rural divide. We are too small a country to have an urban-rural divide. Anyway, we are turning into one big conurbation in many ways. We really need to bring people with us.

I welcome the Minister statement that rewetting will not being mandatory. I do not believe we can get to the 2050 targets using just public lands. I wish we could but I do not believe we can do so. There will be a real issue with neighbouring farmland, which will have to be dealt with through compensation. I accept 100% the Minister's bona fides on current farm payments not being affected. Legally, they could not be affected but I am not too sure going forward. It is an open question. I believe that this should be voluntary for farmers. This is the way it should be.

I was very much taken with what Darragh McCullough wrote in the Irish Independent. All of us have read the article. It is a very balanced article. A demonstration farm to show what will happen is a very good idea. We could have a demonstration area that visualises this and shows how it will work. It would be an excellent idea to try to demonstrate to people where we are going with this.

I wanted to discuss forestry, which has been an absolute disaster, but I do not have time. I want to ask about the supposed leaked briefing paper that was referenced during the week. It has built up bile in the media, which has entered the national restoration debate. I understand why briefing papers are done. I was a Minister and I understand it. However, I notice that on the airwaves many of the Minister's party colleagues, and his colleagues in Fine Gael, do not seem to remind people this is under the remit of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine where the Minister is the boss.

Internationally this does not look good for us. This has gone throughout the media. Many of the national newspapers in major European countries and worldwide state that Ireland will start culling cows. That is barbaric. We should never end up doing this. I understand why this was done. Some of the plans and the various initiatives are quite good, such as those on retirement, which we need to consider. We also need to consider new entrants as the age profile is an issue in the sector. Let us have a full debate on this. Let us pull out whatever paper is emanating from the Department and discuss it here instead of having all this hot air blowing politically and in the media. In many cases, it is totally inaccurate and an absolute waste.

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