The Irish Natura & Hill Farmers Association (INHFA) have taken issue with plans in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to purchase land for rewilding in the midst of a housing crisis. Speaking on this INHFA National President Vincent Roddy questioned “the expressed policy of Government Ministers and our Taoiseach to use State money in the purchasing of lands to increase the size and number of National Parks.”
It is, Roddy stated “absolutely mind boggling, that we have people inside the Department of Housing actively looking to purchase farmland for rewilding while over 15,000 people remain homeless, including 4,600 children.”
With numbers such as this you would he continued “expect the Government and this Department to focus on acquiring land to build houses or maybe developing existing State land for housing.”
The farm leader then focused on the impact of these purchases, for farmers and their communities. On this he detailed how “we are now seeing the State, actively compete against farmers in the purchasing of land, which is having a detrimental effect on access to land, especially for young farmers, while also undermining economic activity in these communities”
This policy, Roddy continued “also at variance with Article 45/2/v of our National Constitution that outlines the need to retain as many families as is economically practicable on the land.”
Amid growing concerns around food security and ongoing rural decline, the INHFA President stressed the need for an immediate reassessment of the current policy.
Through active engagement with farmers we can, he stated “deliver much better outcomes in terms of economic and environmental sustainability while ensuring there is more funding available to address the housing crisis.”