Donegal Sinn Féin Senator Pádraig Mac Lochlainn has accused Fianna Fáil of hypocrisy and of rowing back on public promises in relation to the plight of hard done by hill farmers.
He was speaking after Fianna Fáil Senators voted against a Sinn Féin motion in relation to special recognition for mountain type land after the review of the Areas of Natural Constraints Scheme. This is a policy which has been called for by the likes of the Irish Natura & Hill Farmers Association and which Fianna Fáil publicly claimed they supported.
Speaking after the vote in the Seanad, Senator Mac Lochlainn said
“All seven Sinn Féin Senators put forward a motion to support the stance our MEP Matt Carthy, our Dáil spokesperson on Agriculture Martin Kenny and our Councillors have taken, that the hill farmers in the West and North West in particular be given recognition for the extra difficulty they face farming mountain type land.
“Our motion calls for:
– the retention of mountain sheep grazing (mountain type land) as a separate category after the review of the Areas of Natural Constraints (ANC) Scheme;
– the payments going forward to properly reflect both the multiple bio-physical and specific constraints experienced by farmers who farm mountain type land, and for those payments to be set at similar rates to the current offshore islands rate;
– the new mapped ANC areas to be published in time to have a proper consultation before they are sent in draft to the EU”.
He continued:
“I understand that the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association have briefed all parties extensively in relation to this issue. It has been discussed at public meetings the length and breadth of the country. We have had the motion on the Seanad agenda for weeks, so they cannot say they weren’t aware of it.
“When we asked Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to step up to the mark, they voted against the motion being taken. This shows the lack of commitment they have when push comes to shove. They will happily say whatever people want to hear at public meetings but do the opposite when it comes to the crunch in the Houses of the Oireachtas.
Sinn Féin will continue to put pressure on the establishment parties to recognise the specific difficulties that hill farmers are having, to ensure that they get a more equitable distribution of European funding”.
