Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I reiterate that while we support the ambition, we are fully committed to ensuring farmers will be key actors in the development and delivery of the wider nature restoration plan. The Deputy is correct that we need to have a partnership approach, with Government working with the farming community and the agricultural sector. If we look across Europe at how certain countries have managed this process, it leaves a lot to be desired. The European Commission and the wider European institutions need to make sure everything we do in the context of this challenge is by way of a partnership approach that builds more sustainable models and partners with the farming and agricultural community in doing so. Otherwise we polarise communities and undermine our society, which undermines the wider economy and economic potential.

It is important we give clarity that there are absolute safeguards for Irish farmers from any perceived risks to CAP payments, as the Deputy has mentioned. Balance has to be found, as I said earlier, and there has to be flexibility in the delivery of rewetting targets, including the use of former peat extraction sites. It has to be explicitly voluntary when it comes to landowners. That is why the Government's position is that the State itself will lead on rewetting, using State lands to shoulder the majority of the burden associated with this ambition. Farmers can have confidence that no changes will be forced on them and that they can continue to produce the high-quality food that Ireland is renowned for. We still have a very ambitious policy within the Department of agriculture and the Department of enterprise on an export-led oriented model. We want to work with farmers to make sure the future around that is done in a sustainable way, ensuring Ireland has the competitive edge in European and wider export markets. That is the balance that is being struck in the context of the negotiations for the Minster, Deputy McConalogue. To the Deputy's point, it has to be done via a partnership approach, protecting farm incomes and payments. We will work with all colleagues around that.

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