IFA Will Oppose Any Land Grab by the Next Government

 IFA President Tim Cullinan has said that proposals in the FF-FG document, ‘to facilitate negotiations’ on the formation of a new Government, to take private property from citizens and pay less than the market value will be strongly resisted by IFA, farm families and property owners.

“IFA is completely opposed to any such land grab by the State whether that be through legislation or referenda to change constitutional property rights. I wrote to party leaders on March 11th before the talks, putting them on notice that such an approach was unfair and would be fought every step of the way by IFA,” he said.

“Overall, the document is very light on agriculture and gives no real commitments in relation to defending the CAP or trying to improve farm viability. Any programme for Government must contain a lot more commitments on farming” he said.

On the property rights issue, the President said that any future Government should avoid unnecessary conflict with property owners, including farmers, and address the current housing challenge by building on land already owned by the State.

“The reality is that there are almost 2,000 hectares of land under State ownership, which can be mobilised today to address the housing challenge. IFA will not allow the housing problem to be used as a trojan horse to diminish the property rights of farmers and property owners across the country.”

Farmers deserve fair value for their lands. Any attempt to pay less than the open market value for land and associated compensation will be strongly opposed by IFA.

“This was IFA’s position when NESC and the Law Reform Commission both examined the issue in 2018 and it remains our position today,” he said.