A Roscommon TD says the government needs to make a submission to the European Union outlining concerns about the Nature Restoration Law and its impact on farmland here.
The Nature Restoration Law proposes to restore an average of 20% of land for environmental purposes, and this is likely to affect a significant area of peatland that has been drained over the years by farmers.
Independent TD Denis Naughten says the government's own officials warned in a memo last summer that this law would have major implications for farmers on peat based soils.
Speaking on the Joe Finnegan show this morning, Deputy Naughten says that under the Lisbon Treaty each country has the right to challenge EU legislation and try to amend the impact on their own country.
He says while there has been extensive debate on this issue in the Dail, Seanad and other committees, no submission's been made to the EU about it.
''What Lisbon did, it gave the Dáil and Seanad in this country a say in relation to EU legislation and while the Swedish parliament has flagged their concerns in relation though it even though the Irish committees have been debating this for the last six months, there hasn't been a submission made to the commission saying hold on here we need to take a step back and if that happened in the member states and parliaments across Europe I think it would help the negotiators and the frustration that's being expressed. ''
