Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Senators Lombard and Murphy on agriculture and I thank the Minister. I support the amendment. I acknowledge the work of Senator Paul Daly, in particular. He is a member of the agriculture committee, as is Senator Lombard. Senator Murphy is on the panel.

The amendment goes some way towards addressing the issues but we have a hell of a lot of work to do. To endorse what other Senators have said on engagement, the agriculture community, including farmers, did engage with the committee. The difference is that it was not necessarily listened to. I thank Deputy Leddin and the other members of the committee. They did an awful lot of work. It is only when we start teasing it out that this is evident. I am sure all of our desks are covered in papers related to this legislation. The committee members did very comprehensive work. Clearly, not everything they wanted to achieve got done. I acknowledge the civil servants, including the Minister's team in his Department.

This is political, not personal. It can never be personal. People bought into this whole thing about the environment and climate. I referred to its importance the other day. Ultimately, it is not about us in this House; it is about the public, the electorate in this country who gave us a very strong mandate to protect the environment and planet. Ultimately, it delivered democratically the people who were to govern. This is clearly reflected in their programme for Government. One does not get everything in one's programme.

I acknowledge the amendment, which is important, but we have a long way to go in regard to agriculture. We would be fooling ourselves to believe otherwise. I am not in the business of greenwashing or environment-washing. There are challenges and these will arise later in respect of just transition. This is important.

I quoted from the Green Party website the other day. A press release from 2018 on that website states the Green Party launched its , and this is followed by wonderful quotations from the Minister and the Minister of State, Senator Hackett, who at the time was the party’s spokesperson on agriculture. Also quoted is Ms Grace O’Sullivan, MEP. The website refers to transition, fairness and leaving no farmer or anybody else behind. In this regard, I want to refer specifically to the amendment and agriculture. I acknowledge former Senator Grace O’Sullivan, who did considerable work in this area. The website refers to bringing together "workers, communities, employers, experts, and government agencies to formulate and facilitate the plans, policies, and investments". It states there needs to be a "fair and just transition to a low-carbon economy".

We have a lot of work to do. We have a lot of communication to engage in with the farming community. Ultimately, that is where it is at. The farmers are the custodians of our land and want to play their part. Ultimately, however, they have to bring home the goods, put the food on the table and pay for their families and farms. Therefore, a lot of work has to be done. I am not saying the Minister or Green Party is against that but I am saying the challenge concerns how to bring rural communities and the people who produce our food along. The Minister, on the website, states the future of the labour movement is green. It is environmental. It could be emerald or any other colour. We can call it whatever we want but it has to be about justice and fairness and support the people who work our land, our greatest resource, and the families who derive their household incomes from farms and the land, that wonderful resource that we have in this country.