Farmers in the west should not be forced to swap sucklers for sitka spruce or biomass production according to Independent TD Michael Fitzmaurice.
The Roscommon-Galway representative was reacting to comments by European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan who said farmers must be incentivised to make the switch.
Fitzmaurice said such a policy would further decimate rural communities: “Farmers in the west of Ireland need to wake up to this policy being pushed by Hogan and the Fine Gael party.
“It appears as if the Fine Gael and EU-elite are determined to transform the west of Ireland into a theme park for those living in cities such as Dublin to visit as part of a weekend break.”
Survival
The prominence of family farms across the west of Ireland made them imperative to the survival of the wider community, Fitzmaurice said. He added that if “Hogan and his Fine Gael buddies” were allowed to continue, schools, rural businesses and entire communities would be replaced with forests.
“Is this EU policy or is it an agenda being driven solely by Fine Gael? I have argued for a long time that this Government is intent on driving people to live in urban areas by reducing the services available in rural Ireland,” he said.
Increasing forest and biomass production in the west fitted the theme of closing post offices and Garda stations across rural Ireland, Fitzmaurice said.
Carbon sink
He stressed that the west must not become the carbon sink for Ireland while farms in the south expanded the size of their dairy herds and those in the east concentrated on fattening cattle and tillage farming.
The national forestry inventory stands at 770,000ha, which is 11% of the total land area and estimated to be the highest level in over 350 years.
Fitzmaurice said the west was already carrying their fair share of forestry. He pointed to counties Clare and Leitrim where 17.2% and 18.9% of the total land area respectively is planted in forestry.
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The Big Dealer: Hogan has his bag packed for Brussels round two
Should farmers be paid to reduce suckler numbers?
Farmers in the west should not be forced to swap sucklers for sitka spruce or biomass production according to Independent TD Michael Fitzmaurice.
The Roscommon-Galway representative was reacting to comments by European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan who said farmers must be incentivised to make the switch.
Fitzmaurice said such a policy would further decimate rural communities: “Farmers in the west of Ireland need to wake up to this policy being pushed by Hogan and the Fine Gael party.
“It appears as if the Fine Gael and EU-elite are determined to transform the west of Ireland into a theme park for those living in cities such as Dublin to visit as part of a weekend break.”
Survival
The prominence of family farms across the west of Ireland made them imperative to the survival of the wider community, Fitzmaurice said. He added that if “Hogan and his Fine Gael buddies” were allowed to continue, schools, rural businesses and entire communities would be replaced with forests.
“Is this EU policy or is it an agenda being driven solely by Fine Gael? I have argued for a long time that this Government is intent on driving people to live in urban areas by reducing the services available in rural Ireland,” he said.
Increasing forest and biomass production in the west fitted the theme of closing post offices and Garda stations across rural Ireland, Fitzmaurice said.
Carbon sink
He stressed that the west must not become the carbon sink for Ireland while farms in the south expanded the size of their dairy herds and those in the east concentrated on fattening cattle and tillage farming.
The national forestry inventory stands at 770,000ha, which is 11% of the total land area and estimated to be the highest level in over 350 years.
Fitzmaurice said the west was already carrying their fair share of forestry. He pointed to counties Clare and Leitrim where 17.2% and 18.9% of the total land area respectively is planted in forestry.
Read more
The Big Dealer: Hogan has his bag packed for Brussels round two
Should farmers be paid to reduce suckler numbers?
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