Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Farmers have been much in the news lately because of the beef price crisis but another group of farmers has been protesting this week. Farmers have designated special areas of conservation and protection on their land and are calling on the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Madigan, to properly compensate them for the restrictions placed on them. In a time of unprecedented biodiversity and habitat loss, the 35,000 Irish farmers with set aside private farmland to be designated as SACs or special protection areas are giving this country an invaluable gift not just for now but for generations to come.

This comes at a cost to farmers, not just the opportunity cost of not using the land for farming but unseen costs. For example, banks will not accept designated land as security. If the land is sold, the new owner must be notified, and full planning permission is needed for normal farming activities, such as fencing. The scheme is heavily monitored by the National Parks and Wildlife Service with patrols visiting every two weeks, which must be facilitated and there are serious fines and a jail sentence of up to three years where restrictions are not adhered to.

The farmers are simply looking for a fair scheme of compensation from the Minister. While negotiations have been going on in good faith for over 18 months, the farmers have lost confidence in the Minister's commitment to delivering a workable deal. I ask the Leader to invite the Minister to the House to advise it of where negotiations stand now.

There is something terribly wrong when a group of people occupy a building in order to try to force a Minister to come to meet them. We should never get to that stage. I believe the Minister would be willing to discuss and negotiate. I am not sure how it got to the crisis stage it got to a few days ago. Would the Leader please invite her to come to the House in the near future?

This brings me to Greta Thunberg's address to the United Nations last week. I cannot let my first utterance in this House at the commencement of this session go without expressing my deep concern for that child. That we are using a child to further the cause of climate change and sitting back quietly and watching a child break down in front of the world's media is absolutely disgusting. A child should be in her classroom. People have argued with me that the point she is making is that she should be in her classroom. People blame governments. I have had it this morning on social media, that the Government should do this or that. Climate change is at the feet of all of us. Every one of us has to change our lifestyle. We cannot force Government to force me to stop switching on my central heating or driving my car or doing any of the other things. That child is being exploited for adult purposes and adults need to step up to the plate. If people do not like what the Government is doing in respect of climate change, they should do something about it the next time they have an opportunity but for God's sake let us stop using children. I wonder how that girl will be reintegrated into normal life when she goes back to her school.