Councillor Pat Fitzpatrick says that farmers are facing the biggest battle of a generation for survival and our rural economy is in the front line.
“At stake is the survival of traditional family farms and hundreds of jobs in County Kilkenny”, he said.
Councillor Fitzpatrick identified the Nitrates directive and the serious threat to Derogation status for many dairy farmers within two years, which will have a devastating impact on them, should Ireland lose the status.
“Government must be prepared to go into the trenches on this one, to convince the EU Commission and the other 26 member states that Ireland must retain the derogation. I support efforts to improve our water quality, and I believe that farmers are committed to playing their part with good management practices and making significant capital investments”, he said.
He pointed out that Carbon Dioxide emissions have exploded following a century of industrialisation, urbanisation and massive transport expansion. However, the damage cannot be reversed in a few short years and common sense must prevail.
“Farming and the Food industry are the backbone of rural Ireland, and this is a major distinction between us and the larger EU countries. We accept the climate impact on the environment, but there must be a balanced perspective, when legislating for corrective measures”, he said.
Councillor Fitzpatrick also warned the EU and Global interests that food security must be top of the agenda, as the UN FAO reports 820 million people hungry in the world and demand for food increasing. The wise architects of the original Common Market had two objectives – food security and peace for Europe.
“We have seen empty supermarket shelves in the west when Covid hit, and the extraordinary escalation of commodity prices when Putin invaded Ukraine”, he concluded.
