It is nonsensical to ban something without having alternatives in place, Sinn Féin agriculture spokesperson Matt Carthy TD has said in relation to the ban on creosote posts.

Creosote-treated timber posts for farming will be banned from 30 April this year.

“We’re after having the extension for the second year to burn waste because they [the Government] didn’t put in place any alternative systems.

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“We see it too often at a national level whereby measures are taken to ban something and then the ministers nearly want a slap on the back when they give a derogation for a year,” he told a Sinn Féin meeting on protecting family farms in Cootehill, Co Cavan, on Monday night.

Alternatives

“In my mind, before you put in place restrictions on products, you put in place the alternatives," Deputy Carthy said.

"Otherwise, you just create this sense that they’re under attack all the time. There’s different things being banned, different things being restricted, without any discussion and without any sense of ownership or consultation.

“The irony is that a lot of people who are doing the banning are those people who talk about the need for community engagement and consultation.

"It appears that when those communities are rural, that that consultation just doesn’t apply in any meaningful way.

"It is always then a rear-guard action when people have to take time out to come up to Dublin to talk about the impact that a particular decision, in this case the restriction on creosote posts, will have on their lives,” he said.

From 30 April 2023, fence posts which are treated with creosote will be banned from being placed on sale.

The only authorised continued use for creosote-treated timber is for railway sleepers and utility poles for electricity and telecommunications.

The Oireachtas agriculture committee is to discuss the ban on creosote on Wednesday evening.