Opposition accuses Government of 'stoking up fears' over Nature Restoration Law

Labour's Alan Kelly said if Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil did not want the European Commission's proposed Nature Restoration Law to pass, they should bring down the Government

A number of Irish MEPs, including Fianna Fáil's Billy Kelleher and Fine Gael's Colm Markey, have pushed back on supporting the proposal, claiming it would disproportionately affect Irish agriculture negatively. File picture

Opposition parties have lashed out at the Government for its perceived incoherent position on the European Commission's proposed Nature Restoration Law, accusing the three Coalition partners of going in different directions.

Despite Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue and Heritage Minister Malcolm Noonan telling the Dáil that "scaremongering" and misinformation around the impact of the proposal in Ireland is unwarranted, various opposition parties poured scorn on what they called inconsistent messaging in recent weeks, particularly around rewetting.

The European Commission's proposal to restore ecosystems would be the first continent-wide law of its kind and proposes to restore at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea areas by 2030, with all ecosystems restored by 2050.

Elements include 35% of land that has previously been drained for agriculture being rewetted by 2050. Rewetting ostensibly means bringing back a natural water flow and saturating peatland in order to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other benefits such as reducing wildfire risks and enhancing biodiversity.

A number of Irish MEPs, including Fianna Fáil's Billy Kelleher and Fine Gael's Colm Markey, have pushed back on supporting the proposal, claiming it would disproportionately affect Irish agriculture negatively, while the European People's Party (EPP), of which Fine Gael is aligned in Europe, pulled out of negotiations around it on Wednesday.

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Labour's Alan Kelly told the Dáil that he was "sick and tired" of the politicisation of the proposal, adding that if Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil did not want it to pass, they should bring down the Government. Arms were not aligned, with some Government TDs on backbenches attacking the proposal, he said.

Mr McConalogue moved to assuage fears over rewetting, saying that the obligations could be met by using State-owned lands up to 2050. Rewetting is just one of many tools, he said.

Social Democrat leader Holly Cairns said that Government TDs were engaged in "grandstanding", "blatantly stoking up fears for their own benefit" by playing to the populist gallery, while Sinn Féin TD Rose Conway Walsh said that Fianna Fáil MEP Billy Kelleher was among the "biggest scaremongers" when it came to the proposal.

Ms Cairns called for the Government to clarify its position on the Nature Restoration Law.

"Minister Noonan has said that it is happening. The Taoiseach has said that it is going too far. A Fine Gael MEP voted against the law and Fianna Fáil MEPs are not supporting it. So what is the Government's actual position on it? Minister (McConalogue), when you are meeting your European counterparts, what exactly are you saying?" she said.

Knee-jerk reactions and meetings to stoke up opposition to rewetting and restoration of nature will not do anyone any good, she added.

Ms Conway Walsh said that the proposal in its current form contained too much ambiguity around the impact on family farms, and called for clarity around State-lands rewetting and its potential impact on adjacent farm-owned lands.

The EPP Group in the European Parliament, of which Fine Gael MEPs are members, said it decided to withdraw from the negotiations on the planned nature restoration law after another round of negotiations with other political groups because the proposal "was bad in the first place and our concerns remain unanswered".

Chief negotiator on nature restoration for the EPP Christine Schneider  said: "The law was poorly drafted in the first place and is an attack on European agriculture, forestry and fisheries."