Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this matter. I listened to the Minister's opening address. One of the biggest problems with this subject matter is probably the communication of what actually is or is not happening and how to decipher it. The Minister said this morning that the CAP fund will not be raided to support rewetting and that there will be a nature restoration fund of some description. We must find out more about that. Another important matter is that there are targets that will be binding in the proposals. Are they binding on individual countries or farm owners? This is where the problems arise. I also raise the issue of Bord na Móna, its 80,000 acres that will be rewetted and the consequences for people with land adjoining the company's land. Farmers were in Leinster House for a meeting a number of weeks ago; they were genuinely concerned. They want interaction and a meeting with the Minister. I think the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, was at it. It is important that the Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine meet these farmers on the basis that if that amount of land is rewetted, it will increase the volume of water on that land, which will negatively affect the land adjacent. It is important that farmers are consulted and they know what exactly is happening before it happens so they get fair treatment.

We are talking about rewetting land and bringing it back to nature and all that kind of thing; at the same time, greenways are being proposed in special areas of conservation, SACs. All of this is going ahead without account being taken of nature. It is happening in my area between Athlone and Galway. SAC land will be crossed with tarmacadam and hardcore machinery. That is the proposal and they cannot go any other way with it. There must be equal status for people. Greenways are being built adjacent to people's houses and lands belonging to them are being severed. It is important that we realise what we are doing; we are driving communities against one another. I come from an agricultural background. I recall when I was a teenager shoring land that rejuvenated 7 or 8 acres for us at home, where we had a 30-acre farm. Every year since then, that land has been arable and has been grazed during the summer and mild winters. What will happen to that land in the future? Will it have to be rewetted because the bogs beside will probably have to be? What does that do for our independence in food supply? That is awfully important. There is a lot of discussion to happen yet on this matter. At the moment, in Europe, there is no discussion.

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