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- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (24 Jan 2024)
Michael Fitzmaurice: I am asking this specific question. You have to look at all soils in the country. You have to look at peat soils, mineral soils and boggy soils. What is the definition of a healthy peat soil?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (24 Jan 2024)
Mr. Niall Ryan: The soil monitoring law does not specifically refer to the peat soils per se. It does not set out any specific actions with regard to peat soils. Where peat soils are referred to is in the nature restoration law.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (24 Jan 2024)
Michael Fitzmaurice: I know that. That is one headache for us, but I am talking about mountains and lowland peat soils. Regardless of the peat soil, the directive is a carte blanche over all soils in the line of getting all of them healthy by 2050. Would the witnesses agree with that?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (24 Jan 2024)
Michael Fitzmaurice: ...referred because you did not go in at favourable status. That is the way it works at the moment for anybody who has followed the habitats directive. What is favourable status in the context of a peat soil someone is farming?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (24 Jan 2024)
Michael Fitzmaurice: On a peat soil, for anyone who knows anything about it, the habitats directive had a 30-year span to try to get at that. In a lot of cases, it was not fit to do it in the context of annex 1. It obviously takes an awful lot of work and the only way there were able to try was by rewetting. Has a lidar system already been done on the soils of Ireland? I understood the Department was doing...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (24 Jan 2024)
Mr. Niall Ryan: The Department is currently working on updating a peat soils map of the country.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (24 Jan 2024)
Michael Fitzmaurice: ...are totally different at the moment. They are compiling that at present. Let us take Listowel, County Kerry, because I know it fairly well. There are cows out in fields that were originally peat bog. How do you get those to favourable status?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (24 Jan 2024)
Michael Fitzmaurice: In all fairness, it is not possible to meet the criteria for bog or peat land with fields that have shores in place every 7 yards, which the EU paid the farmers to do, and drains around the edges. It will not be possible to meet the peatland criteria for such land as it originally was 50 or 60 years ago.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (24 Jan 2024)
Michael Fitzmaurice: ...I lived in the Golden Vale, there would be no worries because of the soil type found there. It is different, though, if you live in Donegal, the west or the midlands and come from an area that has peaty soil. The same EU, as I said, gave grants for people to drain land. There is not a hope in God of achieving the required status. First, if land has been shored and drained, there will...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (24 Jan 2024)
Michael Fitzmaurice: .... I would have no fear of ordinary soil. Yes, I would be watching the Ps and Ks. That land would be fairly okay but I would be frightened of the Listowels and the Offalys of this world where the peaty soil is. That is where my big concern would be. Unless there are cushions put in there for Ireland, we are going to sell our farmers down the Swanee in those areas. Mr. Ryan referred to...