Vol. 417 No. 6
8 Mr. McGrath asked the Minister for the Environment the reason no organisation representing farmers was included among the 23 non-governmental organisations consulted by his predecessor in the preparation of the Irish report to be submitted to the UN Conference on the Environment, in view of the major inter-reaction between environmental and agricultural policies.
21 Mr. McGahon asked the Minister for the Environment the reason no organisation representing farmers was included among the 23 non-governmental organisations consulted by his predecessor in the preparation of the Irish report to be submitted to the UN Conference on the Environment, in view of the major inter-reaction between environmental and agricultural policies.
31 Mr. Timmins asked the Minister for the Environment the reason no organisation representing farmers was included among the 23 non-governmental organisations consulted by his predecessor in the preparation of the Irish report to be submitted to the UN Conference on the Environment, in view of the major inter-reaction between environmental and agricultural policies.
44 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for the Environment the reason no organisation representing farmers was included among the 23 non-governmental organisations consulted by his predecessor in the preparation of the Irish report to be submitted to the UN Conference on the Environment, in view of the major inter-reaction between environmental and agricultural policies.
46 Mr. Nealon asked the Minister for the Environment the reason no organisation representing farmers was included among the 23 non-governmental organisations consulted by his predecessor in the preparation of the Irish report to be submitted to the UN Conference on the Environment, in view of the major inter-reaction between environmental and agricultural policies.
57 Mr. D'Arcy asked the Minister for the Environment the reason no organisation representing farmers was included among the 23 non-governmental organisations consulted by his predecessor in the preparation of the Irish report to be submitted to the UN Conference on the Environment, in view of the major inter-reaction between environmental and agricultural policies.
73 Mr. G. Reynolds asked the Minister for the Environment the reason no organisation representing farmers was included among the 23 non-governmental organisations consulted by his predecessor in the preparation of the Irish report to be submitted to the UN Conference on the Environment, in view of the major inter-reaction between environmental and agricultural policies.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 8, 21, 31, 44, 46, 57 and 73 together.
I regret that the major farming organisations were, inadvertently, not among those formally consulted by my Department in the preparation of the national report for UNCED. Environmentally sound agricultural policies are, of course, essential for sustainable development, and this was reflected by the involvement of the Department of Agriculture and Food in an interdepartmental committee established to assist in compiling the report.
I will be seeking to promote a wide representation from Irish representative bodies at the Global Forum for non-governmental organisations which will be held in parallel with the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in June 1992. I intend to contact the farming organisations, among others, for this purpose.
Would the Minister not agree that farmers are the occupiers of by far the largest part of the physical environment of our country at present and that any policy prepared in regard to the environment which did not involve discussions with farmers could not be argued to be truly comprehensive?
Basically, there is no excuse for failure to have consultations with the farming community. I cannot really say what happened at the time. As the House knows, we have much consultation with farming organisations on a variety of fronts. In the context of the fish kills and agricultural pollution, it would seem logical to have such consultation. Even though there is a time constraint I am proposing to provide that facility so that I will have their views in time for UNCED.
May I ask the Minister if the Government intend to make available to farming organisations the submission which has been made to the Rio de Janeiro conference by the Government to enable them to make their contributions as up to date as possible? Will the Minister also make that submission available to Members of the House so that they too can make their views known on the appropriateness of the Government's submission to this very important world conference on the environment?
It is a very major conference and I would be very anxious, before we come to a final decision in relation to our plans for the conference, to afford this House the fullest opportunity to discuss every aspect of this matter. I hope this will meet the Deputy's wishes in that regard. It would be inconceivable to think that we would have a debate without discussing the final report at that time. Since the report is not available to me I cannot say any more at this time.
With regard to making available to one organisation parts of submissions which are at the early stages of consideration, I do not know how feasible that would be. In view of their exclusion up to now, I will be as facilitatory as possible to the farming organisations and, within the constraints on me, I intend to do that.
May I ask the Minister why he did not inquire from his colleague, the Minister for Justice, the Minister responsible for omitting the farming organisations from consultation on this matter, why he made that mistake?
I have always been inclined to move onto the next day, and that is what I am doing.
Will the Minister confirm that he has not yet submitted a report for the conference at Rio de Janeiro even though the closing date was last July? Can he give an indication as to when that report will be submitted?
The most important aspect of any report is its comprehensiveness and the hope that ultimately it will facilitate a successful outcome to the conference. Deadlines are set as a general guideline which countries can meet. My aim is to have the best possible presentation this country can make in the context of its position and the influence we can have on the wider international scene.
May I ask the Minister when his predecessor began consultations with the other organisations?
I do not have an exact date but it is certainly the best part of a year ago.
Is the Minister saying that his predecessor did not keep any record of those consultations?
The question should be addressed to the Minister in possession.
We can go down that road if the Deputy wants to. However, the Deputy asked for a precise date, which I will give him later.
The Irish Farmers' Association are not the only organisation which have been omitted. The Minister's Department produced a list of——
A question, please.
——77 environmental organisations and the Minister has only consulted ten of them. I refer him to the Crann Foundation, the Irish Country-women's Association and the Institute of Fisheries Management, none of which have been asked to contribute. Will the Minister explain why?
The effort at the time to have the widest possible consultation in regard to this area was achieved. However, I intend to add to that, and if I have an opportunity to consult on a wider basis I will do so. Let us be practical, it is not possible to consult everybody on every single item.
It was hard to consult them when they are not even asked to co-operate.
I am surprised that the Minister has not responded properly to the question asked by Deputy Gilmore. A preliminary report must have been done by his Department because there have been at least four inter-Governmental meetings at various venues around the world in preparation for this; indeed the previous Government told us that we had been represented at those meetings. Surely it is not beyond the power of the Minister's officials to have a preliminary report available?
On occasions Deputy Carey and I seem to have crossed swords in relation to these matters. I did not say that information was not available. I was asked whether I could make available certain reports to the farming organisations and I said I would go as far as was feasible. We can decide in due course whether to make a preliminary report available, but my concern at the moment is to have the widest possible consultation in preparation for a final report which will be available in time for the Rio conference. The opportunity is there to consult a wide spectrum of opinion in regard to this matter.
We will be sidelined again.
We are delaying for an unduly long time on certain questions. I am calling Question No. 9.
