The proposed changes to the EU Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) – which would see larger cattle, pig and poultry farms requiring permits to operate based on their emissions output – “must be resisted by every right-minded person”, one TD has said.
This week, the European Commission proposed that farms with 150 livestock units (LUs) or more will require permits, as part of a review of the IED.
Speaking yesterday (Saturday, April 9), independent TD Michael Fitzmaurice claimed that the proposals “are the beginning of a slippery slope to handing the EU the legislative clout to hammer Irish farming”.
“A permit system for farming will be an utter disaster for the Irish people”.
A permit system related to emissions is already in place for large pig and poultry operations.
However, these planned changes, if accepted by the other institutions of the EU – the European Council and the European Parliament – would not only increase the scope of the system to cover significantly more pig and poultry farms, but would also bring cattle farms under its remit for the first time.
The total number of farms in the EU that will require these permits will grow from around 20,000 to around 185,000 – increasing almost 10-fold.
“The EU are using sleight of hand to bring in what is essentially a licence system for farming. And once you must be licenced to do your job, you can be controlled and worse – stopped,” Fitzmaurice asserted.
Farmers could essentially be ‘put off the road’ under the proposed changes.
The Roscommon-Galway TD suggested that – as one LU does not equate to one single animal – there is a possibility that, at some future point, the conversion ratios between a LU and an animal of a particular category might be changed so that a larger animal equates to more than one LU, thereby bringing even more cattle farms under the permitting system.
“This is the EU attacking the family farm, and needs to be opposed. If this move goes unchallenged it will only act to consolidate farming in the hands of big farmers,” Fitzmaurice remarked.
He added: “We need to open our eyes and see where this move is leading us.”
The TD was heavily critical of the EU, saying: “Gone unchecked, the EU will control every aspect of Irish farming from the type of land we farm to the number of units we farm, and this move is one sure way to enable the EU to nail farmers with any random rule they want.
“This is not about small Irish farmers versus big Irish farmers. It is a matter of all Irish farmers against the EU and its underhanded efforts to effectively corporatise Irish farming,” Fitzmaurice argued.
He warned that the consequences of this directive “might not be felt for years after its implementation”.
“It is up to every citizen of this nation, along with every right-minded politician and farming organisation, to stand up and be counted now. If we don’t we will be passively accepting the end of agriculture in this country and giving up control of our land and collective futures to the EU,” the independent deputy concluded.