The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said today that he wanted to “assure” people about the “government’s commitment to rural Ireland”.
Speaking at the Bannow and Rathangan Agricultural Show today (Thursday, July 13) the Taoiseach said he was aware that sometimes when there is a Taoiseach that “comes from Dublin” and ministers as well, “people may feel that we don’t give enough regard to rural Ireland”.
“As is the case for almost everyone in Dublin, we’re only one generation from the farm and my family are farming in west Waterford, part of the dairy industry and I absolutely guarantee you they keep me informed about what’s happening,” he said.
According to the Taoiseach the outlook for the Irish agricultural sector “remains positive”.
During his visit to the Bannow and Rathangan agricultural show in Co. Wexford the Taoiseach spoke to Agriland about calf welfare.
He said he was “very concerned” over what he saw on the RTÉ Investigates programme regarding calf welfare, but that he did not think it was “reflective” of the wider agricultural sector or live exports.
He confirmed that he has asked RTÉ to provide the government with the information collated in the production of the programme in order to support an investigation into the issues raised.
“The challenge now is for us to deal with it and that’s why we’re very keen to get the footage and begin the investigation.
“The Department of Agriculture is doing that and then bringing forward prosecution to send out a very clear message that we as a country, we as a society, we as a food producer, we as a nation don’t tolerate animal cruelty,” the Taoiseach added.
Taoiseach addresses agri concerns
He also addressed a large crowd at the Bannow and Rathangan show to discuss some of the other issues facing the agriculture sector in 2023.
He said the sector was performing well, despite many issues farmers had to deal with such as the uncertainty of Brexit, the pandemic, price shocks with fuel, energy and fertiliser.
“I think we’ve taken a lot of action the last couple of years that I hope demonstrate commitment to making rural Ireland a better place,” the Taoiseach said.
He also discussed the rollout of the national broadband plan “making things possible that weren’t possible in the past”.
According to the Taoiseach, the plan represents a €3 billion investment, will connect about 100,000 farms, homes and businesses in rural Ireland and is now running on time and “under budget”.
The Taoiseach also spoke about the European Union Nature Restoration Law.
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) voted in favour of a revised restoration law yesterday (Wednesday, July 12).
A total of 324 MEPS voted against rejecting the law outright, while 312 voted in favour, with 12 MEPs abstaining.
The Taoiseach said he is in favour of implementing the law.
“We’ve seen an enormous loss of biodiversity in Ireland and around the world in recent years.
“The reason we didn’t support the original commission proposal is because we thought it went far too far and wasn’t implementable,” Varadkar said.
He described the revised law as “achievable” and one the government can work together on with farmers.