Mattie McGrath: Calls 500 million Fund 'Wholly Inadequate' for Rural Communities
Mattie McGrath criticised the 500 million fund and the impact of carbon levies on rural communities, arguing the sum is insufficient and not accessible to local groups. He said revenues already collected from carbon tax should have been used to support farmers, contractors and community projects.
Fund criticised as inadequate
The deputy said the fund of 500 million over 10 years is wholly inadequate for the needs of rural communities. He cited oversubscribed local applications for renewables and irrigation grants and warned small local groups lack the expertise to compete with large companies for the money.
Carbon tax and rural impact
He questioned why some three or four billion collected from carbon tax - largely from rural dwellers - had not been directed to local supports. He agreed with Deputy Knox that polluters should be penalised and argued ordinary people and small farmers are unfairly bearing the burden of levies while seeing no tangible results.
Felling licence objections and forestry losses
The deputy described serial objections to felling licences that prevent contractors and landowners from harvesting mature trees. He said investors and contractors face loan defaults and business collapse because multiple objections block scheduled harvests.
Public transport, services and school water projects
He raised rural transport shortfalls, long commutes and reduced services since COVID, saying public transport is often unusable for many. He also argued the fund could support practical measures such as rainwater harvesting in schools and small community biodiversity projects if it were larger and more accessible.
Call for engagement and policy change
The deputy urged the minister to engage with farmers and communities rather than impose top-down dictates, to make the fund more accessible and to ensure collected carbon revenues are redirected to support rural schemes. He warned that without better consultation and targeted funding, local people will feel penalised rather than enabled.
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Yes, Minister, again, you know, the fund of 500 million over 10 years is wholly inadequate. I mean, I'm involved in Tidy Towns Committee and most of us are involved in committees like that and they do wonderful work. And there's different schemes advertised by the Council about renewables and about, you know, water pumps and, you know, using innovative ideas to, in one case we have at the moment, it's a tunnel. We had it up well before you made your speech about having the south, the window boxes and the south-facing windows. But we have an irrigation application in now for some grant aid, but they're totally oversubscribed. And you're only thinking at the surface and there are people with great ideas and interested. But again, I'm asking, you know, why wasn't someone with a 3 or 4 billion that has been collected on carbon tax from rural dwellers, from, has been collected over the last number of years, why wasn't that used? I leave for a hospital to get grass. I mean, you're debating earlier with Debbie Norton about whether this, if we don't pass this bill here today and tomorrow in the Senate, we'll lose 10 million. But bills have been collected off the people already, and especially the rural people, the rural people who have to travel to work, who have no bus to connect. I think my colleague, Deputy Conans, our deputy, I don't know who from Limerick brought up one day, but the green bus, but he has to travel about 80 kilometres to get the green bus back when he comes on the bus. That's useless. And that's the way that everybody that wants to use public transport in the country is not there. And money have been slashed now because of COVID, or will ever return to train services and things like that. There's no joined up thinking. So this fund is wholly inadequate. And I do agree with Deputy Knox. We must penalise the polluters and the people that are in the heavy oil business and make them pay. They are powerful corporations. Why is it all the time falling back on the ordinary person that's trying to heat their house, that's trying to put the diesel in that tractor, small farmers, and Debbie Norton also calls to the figures for people who have to live in Ireland. We want to be like other places in Europe. Unfortunately, we can't be. I know all the planning guidelines, the 2040 plan is trying to herd the people into the cities and the nude rural Ireland, but that's not the type of country we are. And people have been browbeaten and have been literally terrorised and have been taxed and taxed and taxed and taxed and taxed. We see no tangible results for their money. And so it's great to have the dream. It's great to have the ideals. And it's great as well. And I appeal to you, Minister, as leader of your party now, to call off the dogs as regards the objectors to the felling licences, that ordinary people have planted trees. Contractors have invested huge money to harvest those trees now when they're mature. And there's 80 or 90 objections into licences by one serial objector. That is a scandal. How are we going to get these people who are good enough to plant their land, which I'm not in favour of, but they did, took the decision, got into the scheme, bought into it, invested hugely, and now when it's ready to harvest, and when the companies, the contractors who have been penalised with these taxes as well, want to harvest, they can't get in, they're all packed up. They go out of business because they can't pay their loans because of objections to felling licences. So you can't have it everywhere. We want trees, certainly, but we want to allow those trees to be tinned when they need to be tinned, and above all we need them to be harvested when they need to be harvested. So we have to relook again and support, and you said it in your last response, that you want to support ordinary farmers and help and enable them, but that's not the way they feel. They don't feel they're being enabled. They don't feel they're being helped. They feel that they have been trying for decades to make small changes, and they are the custodians of the land and have done a damn good job in the main on it. And they feel there have been scheme after scheme after scheme, and it's having land rendered use. You still can't touch it with the hen harriers. We've got no as many other issues that have been brought out in legislation, with no proper consultation or engagement with the farmers. No proper consultation or engagement with communities now about this fund. Well, that's divided up to 500 million by 10 years, and where the communities and private companies go looking for it. And again, the big companies will be able to have the expertise and hiring the consultants, but where the small local tidy towns groups, the small local biodiversity groups, and the small schools, and we have the schools. Every drop of rainwater in our schools should be harvested, and it's not. And we're using treated water to, and this, if there's not a money in this fund, if it's directed the right way, the schools could adapt to three and four and five classrooms to a national school with a hundred pupils. What a wonderful concept to educate the children that all the water, except the water they drink, could be used by harvesting rainwater. And that's been talked about for decades, but it hasn't happened. And this fund is not simply big enough. It's not accessible enough, and it's not, you know, all-embracing enough to allow people to draw it down. So look, you're not taking any amendments, so you're not listening. So it's a hammer, and it's a sledge to crack a chestnut. You're not listening. So bring the people with you, and they will support you, but you keep throwing dictates at them, and keep having protests, and threatening them, and demonising the farmers and rural people, and penalising them with carbon levies. And again, see nothing back. Where's the three, nearly four billion that's collected already, plus the 309 billion that I mentioned on the PSO level. Where's that money gone? Into the black hole, the children's house and elsewhere, not for projects that should be done. Thank you. Can I just say . . . .
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