Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising these issues. More generally, food production is essential. In the context of climate change, the resilience of our food production system and food security are absolutely essential. Rather than undermining our food production system, we will increase it. Tá géarghá ann an córas a threisiú agus a dhéanamh níos láidre. In that context, as the Deputy knows, we, including the Minister for agriculture, work with the farming community. The Deputy knows about the €1.5 billion in the flagship agri-climate rural environment scheme, ACRES, which was developed by the Minister. What is interesting about that is that there is exceptional demand for it, with about 46,000 applications from farmers who wanted to be part of that and taken into tranche 1. The Minister, Deputy McConalogue, announced yesterday that all of the more than 9,000 applicants for tranche 2 of the scheme will be accepted, bringing the total number of participants in ACRES now to approximately 55,000 farmers. What that shows is that farmers are up for engaging with the Government to do the right thing.

I visited Timoleague last year. There was a project there, in a catchment area that includes Kilbrittain, Timoleague, Barryroe and other places, to monitor the situation as regards nitrates. That initiative showed the degree to which farmers were facilitating research on their farms in terms of water quality, subsoil types and so on. It was an education for me to be there. I listened to Philip Boucher-Hayes on the "CountryWide" programme last Saturday morning. An eloquent farmer from north Cork, near the border with Kerry, outlined a similar project and said that he regards himself as a guardian of the landscape and how, from a nature perspective, it is important for food production that there is good husbandry of the land, that the land is protected and that biodiversity is important to food production.

Sometimes the impression is given that farmers are against this and against that. Many farmers understand this and the need to ensure for the long term a food production system that will not undermine biodiversity and prepares us to enable us to adapt to climate change. Climate change is happening; the Deputy might have a different view. I have been in Galway and elsewhere, and the flooding that has happened is damaging food production systems. We have to adapt, and some of the ways of adapting are natural methods of adaptation. That is why healthy ecosystems matter for food and food security. It is also why the Deputy needs to be more balanced as regards the nature restoration law, because there are many positives that could come out of that law. It will take time, obviously, to implement. Its impact will not be immediate, but the law could be a positive in making sure we have a sustainable food production system for the long term.

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