Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Programme for Government: Our Shared Future (2020) committed to a national land use review. This commitment is being delivered in a two-phase approach. The first phase of the Land-use Review was led by Ireland’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and focused on evidence gathering. This was completed in March 2023 and the final report consists of 10 documents and 19 recommendations.

The second phase follows on from the first and will further develop the knowledge, analysis and shared understanding necessary for consideration of how Ireland’s land can be used in a way that meets the Government objective of improving socioeconomic, climate, biodiversity, water, and air quality outcomes. As in phase one, this is a review of Ireland’s land use, not formulation of a land use strategy.

At the heart of the review is a recognition of the very significant role farmers and farm families play, as food producers and custodians of our environment, and in the overall success of the economy and society as a whole; the need to build on the momentum farm families and their businesses have made in sustainable food production and addressing environmental ambitions; and the recognition that the measures that farmers will be asked to undertake will be voluntary and done in partnership and collaboration with Government.

Chairs for the Oversight, Technical and Citizen Engagement Groups were appointed in August 2023. Public consultation is a key element of evidence-based policy development at local, regional and national levels, and engagement will be a key aspect of Phase 2. One of the two working groups established for Phase 2 is specifically committed to Stakeholder engagement.

The Oversight Group presented a Progress Report to Ministers in December 2023 which set out the work that had been carried out in 2023 and outlined an indicative work plan for 2024. The Oversight Group are of the view that progress on the current phase of the Land Use Review can best be communicated through periodic Status Reports focusing on delivery of the Work Plan over 2024 and a Final Report to the Ministers in Spring 2025. The Oversight Group plans to provide the next Status Report to Ministers in April 2024.