Farmers ‘cannot and must not be blamed’ for government policies that have resulted in rising pollution and land use emissions, the Environment and Climate Action Committee heard.
Witnesses from across the agricultural and environmental sectors gave evidence at a discussion on Nature Restoration Law and the Land Use Review on Tuesday.
Concerns were raised about the impact of climate and biodiversity targets on landowners as well as the land use gap in sectoral emissions targets.
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Both sides of the debate called for more information on everything from the state of hedgerows to Ireland’s official position on rewetting peatlands and its impacts.
But the widely-held view was that farmers should be paid properly for rewetting and rewilding their land.
Sadhbh O’Neill said in her opening statement as Stop Climate Chaos coordinator: "Unfortunately the marketing campaigns of some of the agri-food businesses, backed in many instances by the government and state bodies, had given the impression over many years that everything we do on the land is already sustainable.
"This is not the case, in fact our waters, our land, our forests and nature are all in deep trouble.
"Our greenhouse gas emissions have not declined appreciably since 1990 and have risen in recent years, biodiversity loss has accelerated and water quality is in serious decline due in large measure to agricultural pressures.
"As it was government policy that led to the expansion of the dairy sector in Ireland since 2011, farmers cannot and must not be blamed for the resulting lock-in effects and resistance to new approaches.
"Our experience on the ground is that farmers care deeply about nature conservation and climate action, but that national policies and CAP rules have been incentivising expansion and intensification.
"We believe a new national stakeholder dialogue aimed at achieving climate neutrality in the land use sector that is inclusive and participatory would go a long way to reframing the debate about land use in a frank, constructive and evidence-based manner."
Fintan Kelly from the Irish Environment Network agreed.
Based on conversations with farming representatives, he said it’s clear "Ireland has in the past failed to basically reward the landowners, farm owners for those public goods they provide.
"So I would essentially agree with everything the farming organisations said - ‘we can’t repeat mistakes of the past around designation, around failure to provide farmers with the right schemes, the right level of payments.
"Farmers need to be incentivised to carry out these measures, they need to be fundamentally involved in the design and implementation at all stages.
"I’d fully agree that any benefits that accrue to society have to be rewarded to the people that provide those public goods."
Deputy Richard Bruton added: "Farmers depend on an income from agriculture and if they don’t have a compensating income from environmental management, the future for their family farm is under real pressure.
"There won’t be a future if we don’t deliver environmental services and quality food."
Paul O’Brien from the Irish Farmers Association told the committee: "If you voluntarily wish to go on this journey to improve biodiversity and reduce carbon then you have to be given the financial tools to be able to make sure your income is not destroyed as a result of that.
"It’s up to the state to provide the necessary confidence to farmers."
His colleague Geraldine O’Sullivan said when it comes to the rewetting of bogs: "It’s very much an economic decision for the farmer."
Independent TD, Alice Mary Higgins added: "I absolutely support that we need to get a funding package right but in relation to the voluntaryism piece we do need laws."
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