Carol Nolan attacks NEFET rule, calls to scrap Climate Action Bill
Carol Nolan criticised pandemic restrictions and EU recovery measures, arguing they are destroying small businesses and failing farmers. She accused NEFET of overreach and called for the Climate Action Bill to be discarded.
Key points raised
Carol Nolan opened by noting the EU Council's focus on vaccination, new variants and economic recovery, then moved to domestic consequences. She warned that current restrictions are placing economic recovery "on a knife edge" and forcing many small, family-run businesses to close permanently.
Criticism of NEFET and domestic policy
She said NEFET are governing the country without a mandate, maintaining they "have a mandate to give advice. They do not have a mandate to govern this country and never will." Nolan also highlighted that indoor dining prohibitions applied here did not occur in other European countries.
Concerns for farmers and CAP reforms
Nolan described the CAP reforms on the table as "totally unacceptable," saying they cause division across agricultural sectors. She called for stronger action from the Minister to defend Irish agriculture and criticised the REAP transition payment, arguing there should have been a base payment of €10,000 for farmers while reforms are phased in.
EU recovery funding and green measures
She criticised the planned use of recovery funding for carbon-reduction, noting 500 million of the EU's COVID-related recovery and resilience facility to Ireland will be spent on reducing carbon emissions. She said more than 50% of the $1 billion EU loan will go to green initiatives, including a loan scheme for refitting homes, and argued this focus is pursued to the detriment of local communities.
Direct demand to government
Nolan closed by urging the government to reverse course on climate legislation, calling for the Climate Action Bill to be put "into the recycling bin" and accusing policymakers of going beyond EU requirements to the detriment of their own people.
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I just want to begin by saying that I welcome the opportunity to speak briefly on this issue here today. I am aware that the Council focused on several issues such as vaccination rates across the EU, the new variants as well as the EU economic recovery post-pandemic. We have already seen this week that economic recovery here is absolutely on a knife edge in terms of the ongoing restrictions and the draconian measures that have been put in place which will force many small businesses to close their doors permanently. And when I speak here about small businesses I mean businesses that have been passed down through generations in Irish families. What has happened here and the fact that NEFET are now governing in this country instead of the government made up of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Greens is nothing short of a disgrace. NEFET have a mandate to give advice. They do not have a mandate to govern this country and never will. And I think it needs to be strongly challenged here because what you have done to businesses is absolutely unjustifiable. Many businesses had their orders in and it did not happen anywhere else in Europe and that is why I am raising it here in the context of the EU statements. It did not happen in any other European country where they have not prohibited indoor dining. But this country here, you do not seem to be standing up for your own people. In fact, you seem to be betraying every sector of society. All we have to do is look at the fishermen, look at the farmers and now look at the small businesses that you have helped to destroy. I want to also refer to the CAP reforms. What is on the table is totally unacceptable. It is causing much division among different sectors of agriculture. And I feel that the Minister needs to step up to the mark and fight for the Irish agriculture sector, which is in grave danger. And we know that there is a transition payment put in place, the REAP payment, a transition payment, but it is totally unacceptable too. There should have been a base payment of €10,000 for farmers while we wait for the CAP reforms to kick in in 2023. And what I want to say is that in the broader sense of the recovery, we know that 500 million of the EU's COVID-related recovery and resilience facility to Ireland will be spent on reducing carbon emissions. You seem to have an absolute obsession with that, to the detriment of your own people. This means that more than 50% of the $1 billion loan provided by the EU will be on green initiatives, such as a loan scheme for refitting homes. And what I want to end with here today is, will you just wake up and put that Climate Action Bill where it deserves to go, into the recycling bin. Just wake up. You're going further and beyond what the EU are asking you to do. And you're betraying your own people in this country, which is shameful. And you're going further and beyond what is the chicken base program that you have to do with that. And I want to go through the future and to answer that küllentacoustrap. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much.
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