Nature restoration law
Mattie McGrath attacked the nature restoration vote as harmful to farmers and rural Ireland, with several heated interjections from other Members. The Minister replied that the law was necessary, safeguards existed, and farmers would be supported through the transition.
You just wait over there, the Deputy who does not know what an ecosystem is.
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We voted for that legislation-----
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Government Members voted for that legislation because, of course, we appreciate how complex this is. Of course we appreciate the concerns that are there, but this kind of law is needed to put in place the steps that give us a chance of protecting our nature in the time ahead.
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Very briefly, I would not like Deputy McGrath to think I am forgetting him for a moment.
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Farmers know you are forgetting them.
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Of course I know what an ecosystem is. It is our nature, our food and our environment, which we are in a battle to protect. Those who know it the most are our farmers, who are closest to nature, and the Government will spare no effort-----
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They will not vote for you. You have lost rural Ireland.
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-----in continuing to work with them with the kind of transition and change that are needed.