Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)

I want to discuss the implication of the new good agricultural and environmental condition of land rules, GAEC 2. Farmers in many parts of County Kerry will be affected. Farmers have been advised that they must recognise these new rules and regulations as part of applying for their basic income support scheme, BISS, payments and other CAP payments on 15 May, which is tomorrow. That is the first issue I want to raise concern about. There has been so little time. The letters only came out last week. There are concerns about implications for opening new drains and shallow ploughing. What implications will it have for planning permission in the future? I want to ask this clearly and I want an answer: can people still cut turf on the boglands that they have to keep for themselves as they traditionally done? For more than 200 years we have been cutting turf on our farm to keep ourselves warm. Why is it that farmers are the only ones always being targeted or challenged about emissions? Why is it that the farmers in the poorest land areas of the country, such as much of Kerry, are under scrutiny? Why was this action not carried out in a more transparent way? There were no proper discussions in this Chamber.

Members and farmers were not made aware until about two months ago. This was agreed more than three years ago by the then-Minister, Department officials, IFA and other farming organisations. Maps have been issued to farmers. Many are raising concerns in respect of the correctness of what appeared to be on the very old maps. However, farmers have been advised that an appeal system will become available in due course. In the meantime, farmers will have to wait to be paid. Many have not received their 2024 ACRES payments. It has to be remembered up here in Dublin and in Dáil Éireann that farmers in rural Ireland and indeed, in Kerry, are the backbone of rural communities and the backbone of the country. They have been and are still capable of producing top class beef and lamb from poor, fragmented farm holdings across all of south and east Kerry from Gneeveguilla, Rathmore through Kilgarvan back into Kenmare and down both sides of the Kenmare river, through Tuosist and back to Lauragh, through Blackwater, Glencar, Sneem, Caherdaniel and Cahersiveen. Indeed, the marts of Cahersiveen, Kenmare, Gortatlea and Castleisland town are testament to the number of weanlings and lamb that have been reared off the very small pockets of marginal, arable land in between rocks and bogs. . Dairy farmers in east Kerry from Kilcummin to Barraduff, Rathmore, Gneeveguilla, Scartaglin, Cordal, Brosna and Knocknagashel supply great quantities of milk from heavy and marginal-type land. These are great farmers who improve their lands, actions and methods to make the most out of what they have. Why do they not leave these farmers alone? Why hassle these grand people? What about the millions of jets flying overhead? What about the spaceships going into space? What about the bombs in Ukraine and Gaza over the past number of years? The letters have gone out to the owners of the poorest type of land in Ireland. Ireland is one of the smallest agricultural countries in the world. If we all walked off this island, it would only mean a reduction of 0.13% in the worldwide context of emissions. It will not change the climate or the weather either.

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