Leader of the Rural Independent Group of TDs Mattie McGrath has said that Irish MEPs are “abandoning” family farms following the European Parliament’s approval of the final version of the Nature Restoration Law.
The law was passed yesterday (Tuesday, February 27) with 329 MEPs voting in favour, and 275 voting against.
11 Irish MEPs voted in favour and two, Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan and Chris MacManus, voted against.
“This EU Nature Restoration Law will have profound consequences for land use and agriculture in Ireland,” Deputy McGrath said.
“From a practical standpoint, the vote means Ireland will be legally required to rewet tens of thousands of hectares of land as part of the EU’s blueprint Green Deal,” he added.
He said that MEPs “neglected” consulting with farmers about the law.
“The law mandates stringent restoration measures for drained peatlands on significant percentages of such areas by 2030, 2040, and 2050, which poses a significant challenge for Irish farmers.
“In essence, this law undermines Ireland’s food production capacity, jeopardises our national competitiveness, and will lead to higher food prices for consumers,” Deputy McGrath said.
Nature restoration
Meanwhile, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue welcomed the vote approval.
“The current proposals differ in a number of important respects from those originally presented by the commission, and are much more balanced and practical.
Farmers can have confidence now that no changes will be forced on them and that they can continue to produce the high quality food that Ireland is renowned for,” Minister McConalogue said.
One of tasks of the restoration planning process will be to identify the design, targets and incentive schemes to deliver restoration measures, including consideration of national and EU funding opportunities.
Completion of the plan will be aligned with the opening of the Government’s €3.15bn Climate and Nature Fund in 2026.
The fund is expected to play a role in resourcing the measures in the Nature Restoration Plan.