Latest news with #IrishNaturaandHillFarmers'Association
Agriland
5 days ago
- Politics
- Agriland
State criticised for purchasing land for rewilding amid housing crisis
The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has been slammed for purchasing land for rewilding during the housing crisis. The Irish Natura and Hill Farmers' Association (INHFA) has called into question what it said is the 'expressed policy of government ministers and our Taoiseach [Micheál Martin] to use state money in the purchasing of lands to increase the size and number of national parks'. Vincent Roddy, the association's president, said: 'It is absolutely mind-boggling that we have people inside the Department of Housing actively looking to purchase farmland for rewilding while over 15,000 people remain homeless, including 4,600 children. 'With numbers such as this you would expect the government and this department to focus on acquiring land to build houses or maybe developing existing state land for housing,' Roddy added. He went on to outline what he said was the impact of those land purchases for farmers and their communities. 'We are now seeing the state actively compete against farmers in the purchasing of land, which is having a detrimental effect on access to land, especially for young farmers, while also undermining economic activity in these communities,' Roddy said. The INHFA president also claimed that this policy is 'at variance' with the Irish constitution, which Roddy said 'outlines the need to retain as many families as is economically practicable on the land'. The wording of the constitution in this regard is: 'The State shall, in particular, direct its policy towards securing that there may be established on the land in economic security as many families as in the circumstances shall be practicable.' Roddy called for 'an immediate reassessment' of the current policy, amid 'growing concerns around food security and ongoing rural decline'. 'Through active engagement with farmers we can deliver much better outcomes in terms of economic and environmental sustainability while ensuring there is more funding available to address the housing crisis,' he said.
Agriland
6 days ago
- Business
- Agriland
ACRES payments ‘could be too little, too late' for future schemes
The issuing of delayed balancing payments for 2023 and 2024 under the Agri Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) 'could be too little, too late' for future agri-environment schemes, one farm organisation has warned. As the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine works towards getting ACRES payments out to farmers, the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers' Association (INHFA) has said that the hold-up to these payments has caused 'irreparable damage' to both ACRES and similar schemes that might exist in future. Pheilim Molloy, the national chairperson of the INHFA, said that while recent progress made in getting balancing payment out is positive, it has nonetheless left many farmers in an 'unacceptable' position. He said: 'As we move into June and past the half point of ACRES programme we need to recognise that there are over 1,000 farmers that applied to join ACRES in November 2022 still awaiting their balancing payments. 'For these farmers and many more that have only been paid in recent weeks, the wait for their payment in addition to clarity on their overall payment is unacceptable.' 'Beyond these 1,000 farmers there are over 5,400 farmers still awaiting their first payment for 2024 which [amounts] to 10% of the 54,082 participants in the ACRES programme,' he added. According to Molloy, this has left these farmers 'in a vulnerable financial position, due to uncertainty around payment dates and the balance of their overall payment'. 'This will leave farmers reluctant to join future schemes, especially where there isn't a clear indication of what payment farmers can expect to get, as well as definite timelines around these payment dates,' the INHFA national chair added. The INHFA representative also cited concerns around habitat scoring for commonage farmers in the Co-operation Project (CP) areas. For these farmers, landscape actions (LAs) were included to assist farmers on improving their habitat score, but as of yet none of these actions have been made available. 'This is another example of farmers losing out due to the failures of the department, which has indicated that these actions will not be available until the second or third quarter of this year,' Molloy said. 'Based on ACRES deadlines it is reasonable to now assume that these LAs won't be available until at least September which will be too late to positively influence the habitat scoring that has already started on these commonages,' he added. 'For these farmers and indeed all other farmers in ACRES, the inability by the department to deliver on payment dates and the actions to support farmers will be the defining element of the scheme, as well as being a major factor in their decision to partake…in any future agri-environment scheme,' Molloy said.
Agriland
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Agriland
Farm org claims assurance on nature restoration is ‘misinformation'
A farm organisation has claimed that the assurance that there is sufficient state owned-land to meet Ireland's obligations under the Nature Restoration Law is 'misinformation'. The Irish Natura and Hill Farmers' Association (INHFA) has called on Minister of State for nature, Christopher O'Sullivan, to 'clarify the ongoing misinformation relating to the suggestion that the state has the necessary land to deliver on our obligations under the Nature Restoration Law'. According to INHFA president Vincent Roddy, some public representatives 'continue to push the narrative that the state can deliver the necessary land to meet all our obligations'. Roddy claimed that this is 'clearly not true'. 'This narrative is clear miss-direction because the state obligation they are referring to only relates to commitments for rewetting detailed under article 11 of the Nature Restoration Law and will include approximately 100,000ha,' he said. 'While this is helpful, we must understand that this is a tiny element in the overall land area and commitments required, under a law that will impact at least 1.6 million hectares,' Roddy added. The INHFA, along with other farm organisations and stakeholders, are currently part of an ongoing process to develop a nature restoration plan for Ireland, which is required under the law. The organisation's president called for 'honesty' in this process. 'Starting this process on a lie as obvious as this is a major red flag and does get you wondering what else is being spun, lied about or withheld,' Roddy commented. According to the INHFA president, the state may own enough land to meet rewetting obligations under Article 11 of the Nature Restoration Law, but Article 4 of the law covers restoration of existing habitats and re-establishment of lost habitats, which, Roddy suggested, will take in more land than the state can provide for itself. 'Farmers, landowners, and rural communities continue to be misled through clever manipulation into believing that there isn't a direct threat to their property,' he claimed. 'It is time that the minister publicly clarifies that the state had not near enough land to meet all the obligations that will be required though the NRL,' Roddy said.
