Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree because what is being presented is not what is reality. The Deputy used the word "designation", so I am not surprised that farmers are petrified. This is not a designation. It is a baseline requirement for applying for a single farm payment, or the basic income support for sustainability, BISS, scheme, as it is now known. Of course farmers would have concerns on that but a planning authority would not know whether a land parcel is in or out of GAEC 2. It will have absolutely no impact on somebody applying for planning, whether it is mineral soil or the peat element. The same rules apply for planning for the sceptic tank, for example. Someone does the subsurface T test to determine whether there is peat. That is completely separate to this. This is not a designation. I understand why farmers are petrified. I have seen videos from other political entities engaging in scaremongering, linking this with nature restoration and lots of other things, and playing on farmers' concerns. This is not that. This is not something that, in the years to come, will have a significant impact on farmers. This will not have loads of farmers in breach of this in years to come because I have made sure that the process that has gone to the Commission will allow day-to-day activity to continue as normal.

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