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

I am glad to get the opportunity. First, I am very disappointed that Ursula von der Leyen has been endorsed by this Government for another term. This endorsement was led by our Tánaiste, even though each of the Fianna Fáil candidates who ran in the European elections promised the electorate that they would vote against her appointment for another term. What are they going to do now?

The farming community is constantly attacked and vilified, blamed for climate change and blamed for a lot of things that are totally untrue. For instance, von der Leyen aims to cut fertiliser use by 20% and the use of pesticides by 50%. A quarter of our total land area is to be farmed organically. This means an absolute cut in production by 2030.

Back in the 1970s, if a farmer was not farming at least one acre of the farm, the Land Commission would give the farmer a very short time to sell the farm. If the farmer did not sell it, the Land Commission would divide it among farmers who were farming. That is a big difference. At that time, farmers were encouraged and got grants to drain land and produce as much as they could out of it. The current approach is to encourage farmers to let it idle.

We have a very important role to play in food production and food security, and we need it because we are an island nation. What happens if we cannot produce for ourselves? Farmers, especially young farmers, are beginning to see they can have an easier life - maybe a four- or five-day week, which you do not have if you are milking cows. Many young farmers are opting to get out and that is a sad story because we have the natural ability to grow green grass better than any other country in the world. Farmers are now being threatened with this nature restoration law.

Then there is our neutrality, the very thing that is so important to the people of Ireland, which is being threatened. Each and every day that our representatives and the Government go over to Europe, that is what they are at - threatening our neutrality.

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