No one can go into your property if you don’t want them to, Independent TD for Roscommon-Galway Michael Fitzmaurice told on land designations and bog rewetting in Williamstown, Co Galway, last week.

“I’m [hearing] about rewetting, nobody can go into your ground if you have a turbary right or a commonage or whatever, unless they do a deal with you. If you do a deal, you do a deal.

If you’ve shored your land, you need to be able to farm that land

“What they’re talking about doing is yeah, we’ll pay the farmer for this over here, but what is the longevity of that if he rewets his bog or takes the sheep off the mountain? At the end of the day you have to be able to put your ground in for CAP, because that’s where the money is.

“If you’ve shored your land, you need to be able to farm that land.

“The whole agenda now seems to be that we’ll pay the farmer but do you know what we’ll do – and remember my words – they might throw you a few pound for the first three, four or five years and you’ll think you’re great, but then what will happen in the four or five years after that when there’s a recession, they’ll throw you nothing. It will be your decision,” he said.