Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for giving me the opportunity to raise this very important matter with the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers.

I will outline first the deep concern expressed by many farmers in rural areas, especially in rural Kerry. The farmers whose lands people are talking about rewetting are the farmers who are working the hardest. They drained their land and were encouraged to do so to make it productive back in the 1960s, the early 1970s and through the 1980s. They were grant-aided to do that and they worked very hard to make their land productive. It is very hurtful now for them to hear people in government or advising Government, or whatever, saying that these lands should be rewetted in the name of biodiversity. That will actually spell the end of their livelihoods if that goes through. However, it has stalled in recent times in Europe. I believe that a vote was lost by the people proposing the rewetting. I believe that another vote is due to take place in the next few days.

I was glad to hear the Taoiseach today outline his view on rewetting. He said that it should only be voluntary and that farmers should be compensated if they decide to go for this scheme. I have a problem with that, although it is good to hear him saying it in the first place. If a farmer in the middle of a flat low-lying place decides that he wants to flood or rewet his place, he will probably rewet his neighbours on one side of him or on both sides. You could have problems because of that. This is unfair because when you talk about rewetting, you are only talking about people on these low-lying lands. Then you have people in the Golden Vale with free-draining soil, and you have mountainy places which will not be affected at all. In the 1940s and early 1950s, the Arterial Drainage Act 1945 helped people in places like north Kerry to drain almost 26,000 acres of land, which is now highly productive land. The communities around there have enjoyed the spin-off from good farming practices over the years in the villages, the shops, the garages and the entire community.

Then there is the proposal to carry out maintenance. We have 1,172 submissions from the likes of An Taisce, Bat Conservation Ireland, BirdWatch Ireland and so on. All of these groups - I will not call them "do-gooders" - are aided and funded by the Government. These organisations have lodged professional submissions against what the OPW and the farming community have in mind and want to do to ensure that maintenance is continued into the future at the Cashen outlet, which has silted up by more than a metre from what it was. There are proposals for 16 pumps driven by wind energy because they cannot carry out the drainage in the manner they have done previously due to the fact that the Cashen outlet is in a special area of conservation.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I am taking this Topical Issue on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan.

One of the commitments in the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030 is to put forward a proposal for legally binding EU nature restoration targets. The proposed regulation on nature restoration aims to fulfil this commitment. This significant EU legislation will have an impact on all areas of society, and not just farming. It will introduce restoration targets across a wide range of land uses throughout rural and urban environments, including lands in agricultural use, forestry and the marine. There will be legally binding restoration targets for a broad suite of marine and terrestrial habitats including grasslands, woodlands, sand dunes, rivers, lakes, peatlands and other wetlands. This will inevitably have policy, legislative and sectoral implications across many Departments from housing and planning to energy, forestry, fisheries and water. According to the proposed draft regulation, restoration measures should cover at least 20% of the EU's land and sea area by 2030, and all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050. Restoration of habitats does not necessarily mean cessation of current land use. Rather, it is an opportunity to work with landowners in order to reach restoration objectives.

On the concerns of farmers, I appreciate that there is uncertainty arising from Article 9 which concerns agricultural ecosystems and particularly the requirement to fulfil targets relating to the restoration of drained peatlands in agricultural use. Restoration of drained peatlands does not necessarily mean bringing the water table to surface level. Rewetting is just one of several tools available for restoration of target ecosystems. The broad definition will allow Ireland to determine for itself what rewetting means in our national circumstances. On the draft targets, a reduction in the original Commission proposal has been brought about by Ireland and other countries on foot of our participation in negotiations. The Commission has confirmed that restoration works under way at the time the draft regulation may come into force can count towards overall targets. This would mean that the commitment of over 77,000 ha of peatland rehabilitation using Bord na Móna lands in the Climate Action Plan 2023, for example, can count towards the overall targets if that work is under way by the time the regulation comes in. This will obviously reduce the demand on landowners.

Moreover, this is without counting the several thousand hectares of restoration works currently under way and planned by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS. Any decision on how much State land is to be used will be a factor in the national restoration plan, along with other considerations such as non-peat extraction lands, such as Coillte lands; incentives and schemes for voluntary rewetting and so forth. Any additional measures needed will be introduced with landowners in mind and in consultation with them, which will be important. The impact of any measures on the landowners' ability to continue the economic use of their land will be considered and there will have to be engagement as part of any national restoration plan. It is important to flag at this stage that the undertaking of such measures will be voluntary and fully resourced. The current Swedish Presidency of the EU is seeking to establish an agreed approach in time for the Council meeting on 20 June. After that, negotiations at EU level - the Taoiseach spoke about this earlier - will continue with the next Council Presidency engaging with the European Parliament and the Commission in overall trilogues around potential agreement on the final text. Continued negotiations on this are needed over the coming period.

Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State for the reply. However, again, considering this rewetting will have a desperate effect on people who drained their lands and have successfully farmed them for many years. Take the people of north Kerry. It is a vibrant farming community and they have great hurling teams. Kerry has the best football team in the country most years, but we also have massive hurlers and hurling clubs in north Kerry, who are proud of their tradition and villages such as Liscahane, Ballyduff, Abbeydorney, Ballybunion and all those places. They are massively proud of their places. Any proposal for rewetting or increasing the level of water in this area would have a disastrous effect on farmers and on the community's ability to exist going into the future. It cannot be considered.

The farming community are the custodians of the land. They are proud of their places. They want to better them and hand them on to the next generation in better shape than they got them. They do not need to be dictated to by An Taisce, BirdWatch Ireland or any of these people about how to run or operate their farms. They value biodiversity more than anyone else. However, to ask them to rewet their land is absolutely criminal. The people on my side of the country in south Kerry worked hard over the years to drain their places. To have anyone here, in Europe or anywhere else deciding that they will or will not rewet their lands is unfair. I ask the Minister of State, in government, to ensure this does not happen. He will play his role. He is in the Department of Transport. Even though he is in Dublin, he must speak up for the rural side of the country because it is vital to the well-being of the country, especially the farmers of Kerry.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Certainly with my previous hat on, I was familiar with and was in Lixnaw with the Minister, Deputy Foley. It is a great hurling club that benefited from the sports capital programme.

I will set out the facts on this, as much has been said publicly that sometimes polarises communities. It is clear that any measures will be introduced with landowners in mind and in consultation with them. That will be considered in the context of an overall national restoration plan. It is important to flag again that such measures will be voluntary and will have to be well resourced. I already set out in my original answer the context of State land, such as Bord na Móna land and what the NPWS is already doing in nature restoration and improving biodiversity. The Swedish Presidency is trying to conclude this file. That will allow for trilogue discussions to take place with the Parliament and the Commission to agree the final text. Significant flexibility has been built into the latest iteration of the proposed regulation - and the Minister, Deputy McConalogue has set this out clearly - because of our negotiations with the European Council and the Commission. The NPWS will continue to work with the EU and national stakeholders to develop an overall national restoration plan that works for all aspects of society. We need nature and we also need food. The scientific evidence is definitive. The security of both are interconnected, even more so in a climate-changed world. We should all be mindful of that. That is why we will hold the trilogue discussions to try to strike a balance. As I said earlier, and as has been said by the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, and others, we will work with landowners, all schemes will be voluntary and well resourced and we will also use State lands. It is about striking a balance in the European negotiation.