28 March 2023
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
Independent TD for Cork South-West Michael Collins has blasted the Government’s decision to approve the purchase of 4.1 million carbon credits from Slovakia at a cost of €2.9 million to help meet its 2020 climate ambition targets.
File photo of West Cork TD Michael Collins (Ind)
Deputy Collins was speaking during a Dáil motion on the matter where he also took the opportunity to voice severe criticism relating to what he described as the “certain and ruinous consequences that will follow for dairy farmers if Ireland does not achieve a nitrates derogation after 2025.”
“There is no doubt that Irish farmers, including dairy farmers, want to play an active part in meeting reasonable and sustainable environmental targets,” said Deputy Collins.
“But the fact remains, and the combination of the carbon credit purchase and the nitrates derogation issue highlights it-the current approach is simply riddled with hypocrisy.”
“All dairy farmers and farmers generally are hearing morning, noon and night is ‘climate targets, climate targets, climate targets,’ but at no time does there appear to be any recognition from this Government that farmers cannot just changes their practices overnight or even over the course of a year. The emissions targets themselves are fundamentally out of kilter with farming reality.”
“Farmers are just expected to suck it up and get on with it, derogation or no derogation, nitrate Banding information or no nitrate Banding information. It is an utterly clueless approach, and it has to end,” Deputy Collins concluded.
