Greens claim trial will damage Irish farming
The Greens environment spokesperson Cllr Malcolm Noonan said that Fine Gael and Labour had rolled over for the bio-tech industry without considering the impact on farming and the country’s international image.
“This decision will do untold damage to Irish farming just at a point when it was showing signs of real recovery.
“Overwhelming scientific evidence is showing GM technology is of no real benefit to sustainable agriculture or food security.
“Consumers in the EU have rejected it and we should be paying attention to their needs rather than the interests of large industry players,” he said.
The Greens strongly criticised the Environmental Protection Agency for their role in the matter.
“To think the two Irish state bodies charged with the protection of our environment would seek to deliberately release GM organisms into the environment is really very disappointing.
“The EPA has dismissed outright the submissions from Irish environmental NGOs and other concerned groups and citizens, all of whom expressed very valid concerns about this technology. The biotech industry has failed at every turn to have its destructive technology accepted by the public. This decision could presumingly only have been taken because the two state bodies knew that the biotechnology industry had friends and supporters in the governing parties,” Mr Noonan said.
