Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is inherently wrong to rewet land that people suffered for and worked hard to dry in the first place. People are saying it is inevitable and it has to be done. It does not have to be done. There is enough sequestering of carbon emissions by other land holdings like our forestry and hedgerows. We are doing more than our part. The version of the EU nature restoration law approved by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and the other Council members sets stringent and unrealistic targets for Ireland, requiring the rewetting of at least 24,000 ha by 2030, followed by 66,000 ha by 2040 and an astonishing 83,000 ha by 2050. Do people really realise what that is going to mean on the ground? As the EU Council's adopted position is now within the trilogue discussions phase with the European Parliament and Commission, it is evident that the concerns of rural communities and farmers in Ireland have been left behind. The voices of Irish farmers and rural communities, such as those I represent from County Kerry, should have been heard but they have not. Their interests should have been safeguarded but they have not been. Instead, what we are witnessing is a railroaded proposal that undermines those interests. I do not expect the Greens to have any understanding whatsoever of people who work on land and worked hard to make it green. I do not expect the Greens to understand that but I would have thought that people in Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil would. However, they do not have such an understanding, or if they have, it is like they are selling their souls to the devil. They have sold their souls so they can sit over there as Ministers and they forget about farming. They forget that we are an agriculture-based economy and they do not give a damn about it or about the people either.

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