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The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association (ICSA) has stated it will campaign against any referendum to interfere with property rights and devalue land.
It follows suggestions that Government formation plans include a referendum to facilitate an artificial cap on the value of land.
ICSA president Edmond Phelan said such a move would be ferociously resisted by farmers and should be resisted by all property owners. He stressed that it would put thousands of farmers in a very vulnerable position.
Margins
“Successive governments have done nothing about the relentless squeezing of margins on all farms, especially cattle, sheep, tillage and vegetable sectors. Having allowed many farmers drift to the verge of bankruptcy, they are now proposing to tee up the conditions to allow a land grab by corporate interests at well below the real value of land.”
He said it was “idiotic” to think a cap on development land only would not have a knock-on impact on the value of all land.
The constitution should be protected and should not be seen as a political football for every populist idea that comes into someone’s head
“In any event, if the referendum is passed, it opens up the appalling vista that future governments, emboldened by the destruction of constitutional property rights, could enact all sorts of authoritarian measures to take land off people for various reasons. We have already seen compulsory purchase orders used in an aggressive way to go beyond essential infrastructure projects,” Phelan said.
Explanation
He said Fianna Fáil and Fianna Gael needed to explain why a cap would be necessary.
He said none of the three biggest parties had mentioned the move during the general election.
“It is not as if housing was not a main issue in the election. There is something profoundly repellent about the two main parties now bringing forward a proposal that they did not propose in the general election.
“The constitution should be protected and should not be seen as a political football for every populist idea that comes into someone’s head, particularly when it acts as a distraction from the real failings,” Phelan concluded.
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