Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will leave my statement on the budget until later on. We had a huge rally in Cork last Friday evening at which nearly 5,500 families turned up to talk about climate action, the CAP reform and the nitrates action plan, and how it will affect agriculture. The acknowledgement this Chamber got for its good work when it came to the climate action Bill was out there at every one of these rallies. As a Chamber, we made a real difference that day. I acknowledge everyone who supported those amendments. There is a huge body of work to go forward. All three issues need support of all parties to make sure our rural communities will be viable, going forward.

In the last census in west Cork, which is probably out of date, the population in most of the electoral districts declined and especially in all the rural ones. It shows the issues in how we will make sure we have a vibrant rural Ireland. Agriculture plays an important role in that. The challenge agriculture faces, especially with those three issues, needs to be acknowledged. We will have a huge issue in terms of where the payments will go following CAP reform. The nitrates action plan could see issues of where we will have storage, the cost of farming and how affordable it will be to farm. The climate action Bill and the climate related issues in our carbon budget, which will be sorted in the new few months, if not weeks, are huge issues for the farming community. A debate is required with not one, but two, Ministers. We need the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communication and the Minister for agriculture to come here for a debate on the appropriate carbon budget given to the agricultural community. If we get this wrong, it will mean the devastation of rural Ireland, in black and white. We will have a scenario in which the carbon budget is unattainable; farmers will be pilloried as the people who did nothing for climate change. They are willing to do their bit. We need to have a debate about what is attainable and what we want for rural Ireland.