Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

In the heart of Ireland, a storm is brewing. Rural communities, the backbone of this country, feel abandoned and betrayed. The culprit is a green agenda driven by NGOs and the Green Party with the full endorsement of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. This agenda prioritises environmental conservation over the livelihoods of farmers and the viability of rural Ireland. They can work hand in hand. Farmers are great custodians of the land and have been for decades. There is now a push from the Green Party, telling them how to behave. We heard about the corncrakes from Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív. I remember cutting hay when the rotary mowers came out. We would start in the middle to ensure the corncrakes would not be penned in and could escape.

On 27 February, a pivotal vote on the nature restoration law took place in the European Parliament. Of Ireland's 13 MEPs, only two opposed it. The vote was tight enough with 329 MEPs in favour and 275 against. The two Irish MEPs who stood against the law were Luke 'Ming' Flanagan and Chris MacManus, both members of the Left group in the European Parliament. However, Mr. MacManus later tweeted that his vote against the new law had been an error, casting doubt on Sinn Féin's stance on this issue. I am surprised to learn where Sinn Féin stands on any issue lately. The law received support from the five Fine Gael MEPs and all of the Fianna Fáil MEPs. I will not name them all because everyone knows who they are, but I will name Mr. Seán Kelly in Munster and Mr. Billy Kelleher. A while ago, Mr. Kelleher was lamenting the fact that 75% of all legislation is now passed in the European Parliament but now he has gone and passed this draconian law. These MEPs now have the audacity to go around holding meetings and knocking on farmers' doors looking for support after having abandoned them. Let us be clear, all of the MEPs who voted for this new law and their respective political parties have completely and totally turned their backs on rural Ireland, all at the behest of the Green Party in order to cling onto power.

Farmers are being demonised and used as a sacrificial lamb. I am proud to come from a very mixed farm. We grew everything. We had sheep, cattle and even a horse. I worked with the horse. Now, when a horse is working, you have to put a bag on his you know what to stop him from even breaking wind. This carry-on is ridiculous.

What I see as worse is the EPA. I challenged the Minister of State before and he did not come back to me with the figures. The EPA recently gave a clear bill of health to Tipperary County Council, releasing a lovely green map showing that no wastewater was emanating from local authority plants and entering the rivers untreated. I cannot use the word "lie" but that was totally erroneous, false and disgusting. An agency of the State is demonising farmers and telling... I cannot use the word I should use but everyone knows what it is. There are 30 in my county. Ten officials from Irish Water and the county council recently arrived at the plant in my own village. There is a big tank that empties straight into the River Suir. The EPA took its sample at a bridge 300 m north of where the pollution is belching into the river. There are many such towns and villages.

The way farmers are being demonised is totally unfair. It is destroying their confidence. By 2030, 20% of their land and sea is going to be taken out. It will be up to 80% by 2050. The Government is tying farmers' hands behind their backs. It is spancelling them and blindfolding them. The next thing is that it will stop them from having a sense of smell. What will we have? We will have no food and no food security. We will not be able to send food abroad to Europe and all over the world as we do now. The victimisation and demonisation of farmers and farm families by the Government, his party and the NGOs is nothing short of scandalous. An official wing of the State is telling porkies and giving false and fake reports and it is getting away with it. It is a shocking indictment of the corrupt state of this country that it can do that every week only for it to go unchallenged and unnoticed.

The soldiers of destiny in An Taisce do not want anyone to do anything. It stopped the cheese plant in Kilkenny for three or four years and would not allow it to go ahead. It brought it to all the courts in the land. In a reply to me one day, the Taoiseach said it was wrong to be doing this. It is objecting to this, that and the other but it has no objection to the big industrial plants or data centres that are going up. I stand here as the proud son of a farming family. I have some land myself that I inherited from my ancestral home. I support the farmers but the Government is abandoning them. I ask the Minister of State to please not drive them to the ground altogether and to allow them to live and grow food.

See this speech in context