The Rural Independent Group of TDs has hit out at the recent publication of the Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss’ report, and labelled its recommendations “extremist and green rooted”.
The report was launched on Wednesday (April 5), and contains 159 recommendations on how the EU can take action and work to reverse the biodiversity crisis.
But the group of rural TDs has stated that if implemented, “these proposals would decimate Irish farmers and rural communities by introducing new regulations and taxes, and dictating what Irish people should eat”.
Deputy leader of the group Deputy Michael Collins pointed out that the Citizens’ Assembly itself is funded by the government and indicated that the state’s influence is evident in the report.
“It is evident that this report has been heavily manipulated with predetermined outcomes to provide cover for Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and the Green TDs to impose stringent net-zero policies that go against the interests of the Irish people,” he said.
“That is why we have consistently questioned the wasteful operation of the citizen assembly process, which is very expensive and is disguised as giving cover to government politicians,” he added.
17 of the report’s 159 recommendations relate to agriculture, including one which proposes the introduction of new sector-specific levies or charges on agricultural exports, with these funds ring-fenced for biodiversity.
The group also called on the government to “phase out all environmentally harmful subsidies in the agricultural and food sector”.
There has been mixed reaction to the report, with many of the farm lobby groups hitting out at it, and stating that it could actually be counterproductive to the overall environmental objectives.
Deputy Collins said that he and his colleagues are “highly critical” of the above proposals as farmers are already operating on tight margins.
“The report represents a nasty attack on rural communities and farmers across the country.
“Our view, having read through the report, is that it is neither helpful nor based on science but rather based on shaky government science,” he added.
Speaking about a select few of the recommendations which relate to increasing plant-based foods in the diet, the Rural Independent Group said in a statement that the report “fails to recognise that animal-based foods have been an essential part of the human diet for thousands of years”.
It labelled these proposals “unrealistic” and said that the government “should not be allowed to dictate the foods that people eat”.