Martin Kenny
Sligo-Leitrim · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“A debate here for a couple of hours is fine, but I remember being involved in some of the deep talks with people in the early days of the peace process. We sat in rooms and talked about reconciliation. I met Garret FitzGerald on many occasions at the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation.”
“Of course, we have the areas of natural constraint payments that most farmers on this side of the Border avail of. Unfortunately, those payments are no longer available in the North. Sinn Féin has recommended that the payments should be restored. Farmers need support. Brexit took their support away.”
“I welcome this debate. Such a debate has been needed for quite a long time. The reality is that for many people, the issue of the financial implications of Irish unity has been used as a put-down to try to smother or put a stop to argument and debate. This is a welcome way in which we can open that up.”
“I hope Government will reflect on that and recognise that we need to build a process. There is an energy for reunification among ordinary people the length and breadth of the country. This is about the physical constraints, but is also about identity. Many people who live on this island have a British identity.”
“As the Taoiseach is aware, for many years people with mental health issues have been attending emergency departments in our hospitals. Many of them get very poor outcomes. They experience long delays and end up on trolleys. Sometimes they are referred for short-term stays or to community services, which offer little or no service.”
“I appreciate all that and the farmers forum is a positive advancement on things, but we are back to the problem at the very core of this issue, which is that the chair of Bord Bia has been using imported beef from Brazil as part of his mix to sell product.”
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“CAP's share of the EU budget has been steadily declining over the years and has never been adjusted for inflation over the decades. That needs to be acknowledged. I am sure the Minister will bring it home to his colleagues in Europe because it is a serious issue. The future of the CAP budget and its Pillar 2 structure are under threat with proposals and kite-flying from the Commission about amalgamating the CAP budget with other funds to produce a single funding scheme. That is a dangerous situation about which we have to be very careful. It would have a devastating impact on the future of Irish and EU agriculture, food security and the family farm. It would end Pillar 2 and dedicated CAP budgets for agriculture. This cannot be allowed to happen and must be resisted at every opportunity.”
“I also welcome Francis Gorman, president of the IFA, and his colleague to the Gallery. The Common Agricultural Policy was launched way back in 1962 as a partnership between Europe and its farmers. Its aims, which have evolved since then, are to support farmers and improve agricultural productivity, ensuring a stable supply of affordable food; to safeguard EU farmers such that they would be able to make a reasonable living from their practices; to help tackle climate change and sustainably manage our natural resources; to maintain rural areas and landscapes across the European Union; and to keep the rural economy alive by promoting jobs in farming, agrifood industries and associated sectors. The Common Agricultural Policy is for all EU countries. The CAP budget for 2023 to 2027 is €378 billion, or 31% of the total EU budget.”
“They want that serious incident report to be completed and finished. Failing that, will the Government commence a full public inquiry into this situation? There was a similar situation in Nottingham in more recent times and the authorities there held a full public inquiry so that lessons could be learned and so that such a situation would not happen again. It is broader than this family's request but it is also about them getting a serious incident report into what happened.”
“I raise with the Taoiseach the issue of a family in Sligo, the family of Jimmy Loughlin. Jimmy was murdered in 2018. Unfortunately, the person who killed him had a long-term mental health illness. The situation evolved over a number of years. The family is now looking to get a serious incident report from the HSE. The HSE is supposed to compile such a report. It started it but never finished it. When the family looked into the situation, they discovered that this man had years of engagement with mental health services and that there had been years of failure. An Garda Síochána even wrote to the HSE asking it to intervene because of the danger it felt this man posed when he had serious episodes. This situation arises for many people. The outcome at the end is often suicide but, in this particular situation, this family lost a loved one.”
“A number of the other surgeons have innovative ideas as to how we can deal with this situation and try to progress to a position whereby we have a proper service in place for people such that they would not be in danger like they are at the moment. The risk of infection is a real danger on the ward in question. We must all acknowledge that. I welcome any change or movement on this issue. We simply cannot continue just talking about it. The new surgical block has been talked about for 30 years. We need to make it happen.”
“That is positive news but we need to put a deadline on this to ensure it happens. While the new complex may be at design stage, it is a long way from being built. As Deputy Connolly mentioned in regard to Galway, people talk about these things for years and years but nothing happens. That is the reality. We do not want that situation to occur in this case. There are other facilities can be utilised more. For instance, Our Lady's Hospital in Manorhamilton could be utilised for some of the orthopaedic treatment day services, including for people who come in for injections or small day surgeries. Places like that can be used. Manorhamilton is only up the road and could deal with some of the overcrowding and other issues at Sligo University Hospital. Mr. Gaine has spoken to me about that and I hope he has also spoken to the Minister about it.”
“There is a whole range of issues. New doors were put in that were too heavy for the walls, which are very old and are not fit for purpose. We really need to see a plan for how we will replace the surgical theatre for the future. That plan needs to be brought forward with urgency.”
“I appreciate the Minister's update. It is positive that the management is meeting with the surgeons to try to deal with this situation. I spoke to some of the surgeons, who are extremely frustrated. They want to do their job but they cannot do it effectively in the facilities they have. There are only eight elective orthopaedic beds in the ward, which must be shared between the patients of six consultants. The situation is not fit for purpose in the long term. We need to look at how to deal with this. The surgeons pointed out a number of issues to me, including that the ward is too small, the whole theatre complex is too small and there is no storage space for equipment, with boxes and plant kept elsewhere and surgical implements in danger of contamination because they must be moved into and out of the ward.”
“Sligo University Hospital has the worst-resourced orthopaedic Department with the worst orthopaedic infrastructure in the country. This is an unfortunate reality. It is a consistent struggle for surgeons to get work done there. The current issue is that the theatre roof leaked last week during intense rain showers. Water enters what is supposed to be a sterile area and compromises sterility. This increases the chances of surgical patients getting infections, which is a major patient safety issue. I know the Minister is aware of this issue. It is not just about getting the roof fixed; it is about getting a new surgical block. That is what is needed in that regard to resolve this problem long term.”
“The second point is that people who work in the service tell me the HSE puts out recruitment programmes that are advertised, brings people in and interviews them, but that it is three, six or 12 months later before they get a call back from the HSE offering them a job. They are not going to be sitting at home for six months. They are finding that the HSE, in many people's view, is not serious about recruiting people in a timely manner in order that they can take up the positions.”
“I tabled a similar parliamentary question a couple of weeks ago regarding Sligo-Leitrim. One thing I noticed was that, in both counties, the number of hours that were sanctioned but unmet in Leitrim had doubled in the 12 months between 2023 and 2024 and in Sligo had trebled, particularly for older people. One thing I discovered is that what normally happens is the district nurse or some professional recommends a specific number of hours for Lily, Mary, John or whoever as the hours they need but they are never given those hours. The hours sanctioned are less than that, probably one third less. In fact, the need is greater than what is sanctioned. That is the first point.”
“In many of our rural areas, particularly in County Leitrim, there are serious problems with planning permission. In many parishes, there is no town so there is nowhere else for people to go if they cannot build a one-off house in that rural area but they cannot get planning permission because of the restrictions in place as a result of EPA guidelines. All of these things need to be examined. Ultimately, we need to put money into Irish Water to develop the kind of infrastructure we need to ensure rural communities can continue to develop and grow. Many of them are now being depopulated because you simply cannot build houses in them.”
“The situation is similar in many other towns across Sligo. In Leitrim, it is a similar situation. There are many towns in Leitrim, such as Mohill, Carrigallen and Drumshanbo, where a person who wanted to build 100 houses, which is a small number of houses, would not get planning permission because the sewerage system would not be adequate. We need substantial upgrades to those sewerage systems to ensure that could be done. Many of those towns received upgrades in the early 2000s but they were very small and inadequate and the future was not planned for. That is one of the problems we have. When a job is being done, it is done to meet the demands of today with only a very short-sighted look to the future. We need to build for a larger future, particularly in those areas where we can get this capacity built up.”
“Power and water are the two biggest infrastructural issues in my area and in rural parts of constituencies. The impact of the recent storms on our power infrastructure has been absolutely devastating. It has exposed the serious vulnerability that is there. However, I will mainly focus on the water issue and Uisce Éireann. In rural south Donegal, there are very serious problems with the water. There is lime in the water and problems with connectivity. The pipes are ancient. Building cannot be carried out in large parts of rural areas because the proper infrastructure is not in place. Moving to Sligo, there are parts of Sligo town where there is capacity in the sewerage and water systems but the pipework is not there for areas mapped out for development in the county development plan.”
“It is also about society and to have a better society and a more equal and more inclusive society, education is key as well.”
“For too long, our children have had to travel to other places to be able to attain education services. This needs to happen. I appeal to the Government to examine that and speak to Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim Education and Training Board on where funding can be found to develop this and make sure it can happen. It is an absolute priority. It was Thomas Davis who said, "Educate that you may be free". That is freedom from poverty. It is freedom from many things. More than anything else, it is freedom to be able to have a better life for yourself in your future and your entire community. That is something we can all aspire to. I was conscious of the emphasis on the term "economic enabler" in the Minister's contribution, but it is about more than economics.”
“That needs to be examined and changed. Retaining staff is another serious problem. Precarious employment is a serious issue. I am very much aware of those who work in the sector, particularly those who go into prisons and IPAS centres to educate people. The standard of employment they have is very low and they are not on a par with anyone else. That needs to be examined very closely. My home county of Leitrim is probably the only county that does not have a third level institution. I know the Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim Education and Training Board runs courses, mainly in secondary schools. It also runs courses in rented accommodation. It wants to build a campus and have its own place in County Leitrim. We have a firm ambition in that regard.”
“I welcome the commitment the Minister made in his statement to examine all of this. One of the key things we come across is the cost of accommodation. I know the Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, is very aware of the big problem we have with student accommodation in Sligo. It is a serious issue in every part of the country. Wherever a young person ends up getting a course, they end up having to pay through the nose for accommodation. It is very expensive and a big problem. One of the answers is to enable the universities to build their own accommodation and give them the right to raise loans to build their own accommodation, so they can, in the future if they need to, make a profit from that accommodation. At present, big developers and major corporations do that instead of the colleges doing it, often on college grounds.”
“I wish Deputies Harkin and Lawless all the best in their ministerial roles. Something that strikes me in respect of the higher education system is that the free education scheme is free in name only for many families who do not qualify for the SUSI grant. It is an arduous task to get the grant. It is a very expensive ordeal to send children to college. I have four children within five years of each other. For the past three years, we have had three of them in college together. This year, it is down to two and next year, it will be down to one. It is slowly phasing out. It costs between €10,000 and €15,000 per year per child to send them to college if you do not have the grant. For those from rural areas who have to travel and pay for accommodation, it is certainly very expensive. That needs to be examined.”
“There is huge disappointment not just within the sector but among the many thousands of parents across the country who are really frustrated because they cannot get a childcare place or, if they do, find the cost is like paying another mortgage. This is a time in people's lives, with a young family, when they have all kinds of expenses, including a mortgage or high rent, a car if they are living rurally, insurance and all of those costs. They absolutely need Government support at this stage in their lives. It is vital that the Government recognises that providing adequate childcare places and properly looking after those working in early education is an investment that will pay off in the future by ensuring we move forward to a better society.”
“There is a real challenge here for the Minister to make sure the Government follows through on its promises to provide childcare places, make them affordable and ensure that those engaged in early childhood education are properly remunerated for their work and respected for the huge work they do and the foundations they lay for children's futures. To ensure that happens, the Minister must step up to the mark and do what she promised to do. That is really all we are asking. I compliment Deputy Kerrane on putting forward this motion. However, I am very disappointed with the Minister's amendment, which backtracks even on what is in the programme for Government. We have a real distance to go.”
“Many families in every part of the country, in rural as well as urban areas, simply cannot find a childcare place. This is a real problem. If they find a place, it is excessively expensive because provision is so scarce. The Government came forward at election time and said it would provide childcare at €200 per month and also do this, that and the other. In line with what a politician famously noted in the past, this seems to be the sort of thing that is said at elections but is not followed through on subsequently.”
“That tells us that the State has a problem and the problem it has is that it keeps covering itself. In some aspects of this, there needs to be transparency around what happens. The State has to come clean when it comes to these issues and cannot continue to have a process whereby something is covered up and then something else is covered up in order to cover up another bit. In almost every institution of the State for years where mistakes have been made, sometimes small mistakes have mushroomed into huge problems because of the culture of covering things up. The Farrelly commission report is an aspect of that that needs to be addressed with urgency. I appeal to the Minister to ensure that happens.”
“I bet if we went around every Member in the Chamber, all of us would know a constituent, someone in our family or someone we know in similar circumstances who feels there was a large shadow over what happened in the past. Such things went on for years and years. I acknowledge that circumstances have changed, developed and improved. There are better safeguardings in place and we have HIQA and all of the other things. The Farrelly report proves that nothing has changed when it comes to looking at the past. That we could spend more than €13 million on a report that produces zero is an indictment of the process that we have in place to be to deal with these issues. That is the key factor. We know the huge hurt and pain of the family involved, but we cannot escape the fact that we spent so much money, time and effort over years to get zero.”
“One of the things that strikes me about all of this is that what sets the human being apart from all other mammals is that we have the ability to communicate. That is what makes us different. One question at table quizzes is often about the first three words in the Bible, but the second three words are more important, "In the beginning was the Word". We had words and could speak and communicate. That is why it is vital that people who do not have the ability to communicate clearly are heard. The previous speaker said that communication is not always verbal, but there are other ways to communicate. Those who cannot communicate clearly are those who are the most vulnerable. In this particular case, a person in the care of the State was hugely let down and they are not the only one.”
“It is concerning the Government failed to attend that meeting. I just hope it does not take the same lackadaisical attitude when it comes to standing up for Irish interests in negotiations on tariffs. We all know tariffs are bad for business and the only way to ultimately resolve this is through negotiation and dialogue. The number one priority for Ireland is to protect the Irish economy and Irish jobs and to limit the damage and risk to our consumers. While tariffs will affect the economy here, we still need to continue to invest in our housing, healthcare, health services and infrastructure. The Government cannot use these tariffs and this global trade war as an excuse to abandon the necessary infrastructure promises that were made in the past.”
“The EU has probably the highest level of animal welfare and food safety standards in the world. As such, we produce products of the highest standard in the world. We already seen the EU agree to the importation of South American beef in the Mercosur trade deal, whose animal welfare standards are well below those of Irish farmers and farmers in the EU. This cannot be allowed to happen again. It is concerning the Irish Government failed to attend a meeting of EU countries last week where concern and opposition were voiced to the Mercosur trade deal. So much for this Government standing up for the interests of Irish farmers. Hopefully, it will support the proposals inserting an emergency break into the Mercosur deal for agricultural imports, a mechanism that could be triggered to restrict imports to EU markets if EU markets are destabilised.”
“The Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, announced at the weekend that he was considering scraping those health warnings. That is a difficult thing to understand. How can it be that something the Government told us was a priority and an important health initiative, and which had cross-party support in the Dáil, is something we should no longer do because the US Administration has said it does not like it? Other issues raised by the US were a ban on American meat produced with growth hormones and our regulations when it comes to pesticides and fertilisers. The US also raised concern on delays in the EU approving genetically modified crops. We cannot let our animal welfare, food safety and agriculture regulations be used as a bargaining chip during negotiations on tariffs.”
“Just because the EU has not decided to impose those tariffs does not mean Trump will not increase the tariffs further. It can happen even without Ireland or the EU putting any reciprocal tariffs in place. The problem we have seen in the global markets in the past week is the uncertainty of what Trump will do next. Nobody knows what he is going to do. He has indicated that there will be more tariffs and has signalled the pharmaceutical sector over the past 24 hours. That would be hugely problematic in my area where we have some pharmaceutical and medical device companies. They are big employers and very important to the economy. In documents published by the US Administration on barriers to international trade, one of the issues mentioned was the introduction of health warning labels on alcohol sold in Ireland.”
“Some 6% of cheese produced in Ireland goes to the US and more than €1 billion of Irish whiskey and other products in that industry go to the US. The tariffs, therefore, are going to have an impact, particularly on our dairy and whiskey industries in Ireland. One of those whiskey industries is the Shed Distillery in Drumshanbo in County Leitrim, which is the producer of the famous Drumshanbo Gunpowder Gin and other whiskey products. It is very worried about the amount of its product that is on its way to the US at the moment. It is not sure what is going to happen. There are real implications for all of this. While the EU is not going to up the ante by imposing reciprocal tariffs on US dairy and whiskey, the fact remains that 20% tariffs on Irish dairy, whiskey and any other Irish food export to the US are in place as of today.”
“The reality of what we see across the world in the past week or so is an act of self-sabotage by the American President on his own people. That is really the centre of all of this. At the end of it, we recognise that the trade barriers or the trade tariffs being put in place are going to damage the American economy and ordinary American citizens hugely. We all hope that will rebound back and bring a change in direction by the American Administration. The imposition of 20% tariffs by the US on EU exports, however, comes into effect today. It is damaging Ireland. It will damage Irish agriculture and our food and drinks industry. At the moment, Ireland exports almost one quarter of the butter we make in this country to America.”
“We also have major wastewater problems in our towns. In several towns in my constituency there are opportunities to build more houses. Developers want to build them and the local authorities are talking about zoning land, but the problem is that the water system is not up to scratch, and nor is the wastewater service.”
“What the company is saying to people is that if they are not on the line, they will not get water because they will be priced out of it. That is totally unfair, particularly for people who live in rural areas where houses are often a bit more dispersed. There needs to be recognition that if people are to be provided a people, it has to be affordable and practical. To do what Uisce Éireann is doing to people is totally outrageous. That is the problem we have with Uisce Éireann. It continually puts obstacles in people's way so they cannot get the service they deserve and want. When they do get it, in many areas the water they get is not to the quality it should be. That is an issue. We know there are several places around the country where we have these issues. There have been boil water notices in place for years.”
“The truth is that Uisce Éireann as a concept has been a total disaster. We said this from the beginning. When the local authorities were dealing with this issue, they had people on the ground who knew what was happening and were able to deal with it, and they did so effectively and efficiently. There needs to be a sense of realism here. Uisce Éireann has failed utterly and any introduction of water charges on top of that would be a further compounding of that failure. One of the things Uisce Éireann charges for is a connection. Here is an example. My understanding is that a connection fee for water is €2,200 or thereabouts. However, if the distance is more than 10 m, Uisce Éireann charges €358 per metre, so to put in a connection the distance from me to the Minister would cost approximately €3,500 extra.”
“An awful lot of people, certainly in my constituency and rural areas, find it very difficult to deal with Uisce Éireann. We cannot get through to it. Nobody can get talking to it. People cannot get any reply to their queries and issues. Most of the water in many parts of the country is provided by group schemes. If the group schemes agree to be taken over, then Uisce Éireann will engage with them but it will only engage with them or take them over provided they are up to a certain standard. They cannot get up to that standard unless they get assistance to improve the pipe system but Uisce Éireann will not process their applications for grants. I am not the only TD in the House with this issue. I have spoken to TDs on the Minister's benches who tell me they have the very same problems everywhere.”
“I have written to the Minister about this case on a number of occasions and I know there has been some effort to examine and review the youth diversion programme, particularly in respect of sex crimes. I would like the Minister of State to take note of and examine this closely because it was a serious issue for that family and I know there are others in a similar predicament. At the end of the day the youth diversion programme can, and should, work very well if it is properly resourced. The point needs to be made clearly that we cannot have a situation where the programme is used inappropriately or wrongly and a lot of that comes down to proper governance and regulation. I understand that has been missing up to now as youth diversion programmes have been used across the State in an ad hoc manner.”
“I raised a case in my own constituency of a young girl who was a victim of a serious sexual assault. A number of young men, who were juveniles at the time, were clearly identified in respect of that. What happened was they were diverted into the youth diversion programme. That young girl was extremely upset. Her family was extremely upset. They were not dealt with properly and I understand that is not the only case in the State where this has happened and the youth diversion programme has been used, in what I consider and anyone objective looking at it, in a most inappropriate manner. These young men who engaged in a very serious sexual assault were in the eyes of the victim let off scot-free, and the victim and her family had a serious issue with that. That needs to be examined.”
“It is clear there is a lot of work to be done to have proper youth services in place across the entire State. The Children Act states that a juvenile should not be in the criminal justice system, and only as a last resort or for a very serious crime. That is absolutely appropriate but the big issue in my experience has been resourcing. That comes into everything. We can have all the perfect plans in the world and all of the legislation but unless is resourced and unless we have gardaí to provide the service and to liaise with all of the other services out, including youth services, mental health services and everything else, we will go nowhere. That is the big issue we need to grapple with. I will bring something I raised a number of years ago to the Minister of State's attention.”
“He can help make the markets better and so on but he cannot control the prices. He cannot control the weather, which is a big issue for farmers. However, the one thing the Department of agriculture can control is the schemes it designs, and those schemes should be efficient and effective. They should pay farmers when farmers are owed money, and if everyone does what he or she is supposed to do, it should work smoothly and effectively, but it does not. It never has. I am not blaming the Minister. It has been the same under every other Minister for agriculture that I have seen. These schemes have never worked properly, and it would be a major job of work to change that and get them to work right.”
“I appreciate that but at the same time, restoring their confidence is going to take an awful lot of work. We all know that because confidence in this scheme has been dented significantly. We are now in 2025 and this scheme started in 2023. I know there can be teething problems but they should not go on for this long. Many is the animal out there that has a full set of teeth grown and has gone to slaughter since this started. The Minister cannot just put it down to teething problems. There are serious and recurring difficulties in the Department of agriculture when new schemes are rolled out. Every time, there are issues. Farmers get delays, penalties and all kinds of issue like that, but we should not have those. The Minister cannot control the prices - we talked about this earlier - that farmers get for their produce. We understand that.”
“There is also the issue that, around the end of 2023, there was supposed to be a mechanism whereby they would have the non-productive investment, and if they put up gates or took certain measures on the farm, they could increase their scores. Many farmers still do not know what those measures can be, how they assist to get their scores up and how they can assist to get an improvement in the amount of money they are going to get out of the scheme. They still feel frustrated about all of that. While some are getting their payments, there is still an awful lot of work to be done. This is a point about all schemes that come from the Department of agriculture. There always seem to be problems and major issues with them, particularly around IT. This needs to get sorted out.”
“I thank the Minister, and I appreciate that progress has been made. It has not been an entirely bad news story but it came from such a poor start. Farmers went out and expected that this scheme was going to be - it was sold as this - very similar to the old REPS that we had years ago. It was to be simple and easy to manage, it would be easy to meet the requirements and they would get paid promptly. That has not been the case and many farmers feel very disillusioned. In some cases, they feel they were sold a pup. They kept up their side of the bargain, yet they find they cannot get their money. The scoring mechanism that was put in place and the delays in getting those scores to work have posed a serious problem because many farmers have waited for a long time and they still do not know what score they are going to get.”
“I raise an issue the Minister has heard about many times, as did his predecessor. I refer to ACRES. Many thousands of farmers across the country are still awaiting payment for 2023 and 2024. I ask for an update on where we are at in this regard. We have been told that the reason for the delays is to do with problems with processing and IT. The difficulty, as the Minister knows, is that a farmer who walks into the co-operative to buy a bag of meal and then says he or she cannot pay for it because of an IT issue will not be given much of a hearing. Farmers need to get their money.”
“The Minister made a point to Deputy Connolly about farmers making applications and splitting parcels of land. If a parcel is more than 50% peatland, can a farmer split it and section it off at application stage? Is that what the Minister said? Is that part of a solution he is offering? Will there be an appeals process such that if a person feels their land parcel is unduly designated, they can appeal the decision? Will the Minister provide clarity on that matter?”
“Yes. I am aware that there has been a slight improvement in that input costs have decreased from what they were when the war started in Ukraine. That was really the time that we saw them skyrocket through the roof. The market has settled a little but farmers are still paying very high prices, particularly for inputs such as fertiliser. While I accept that it is not the Minister’s job to set the price of anything, a greater effort needs to be made to ensure that we not only market our projects to get the best price for farmers but also assist the industry to achieve the lowest input costs for farmers so they can increase their margins. I am referring in particular to the costs of feed and fertiliser.”
“Too often, it has been the case that the people in the middle make most of the money. It is the farmer that takes all the risks, gets up at night to make sure the cow calves and looks after the lambs. The farmers do all of that work, yet they take the least when it comes to the squeeze in the market.”
“I suppose it goes back to the old adage that the farmer is the one person who pays a retail price for his or her inputs and takes a wholesale price for his or her outputs. That is the crux of this issue. The cost that farmers have to pay for fertiliser, feed, diesel for the tractor or whatever is constantly climbing, yet they see their margins getting tighter and tighter. This is the issue at hand. While new markets will assist, we need to be going for the top shelf. We need to make sure we are getting the top price for the very high-quality product we export all over the world. Unfortunately, that has not always been the case. We need to work harder to make sure that we can come up with innovative means of reducing the cost for farmers as much as possible while also increasing the price they get for the product they produce.”
“This relates to the increase in the cost of production, particularly in the milk sector. The dairy sector stated last week that it had serious issues and was going to have to pass the high cost of production on to the consumer. The dairy sector, which has been important for Ireland, especially in terms of exports, will be looking at what happens tonight across the water, given exports of Kerrygold and how Kerrygold is the second largest selling butter in the United States. The threats that come from all of that are serious.”
“We need to bring in schemes and measures that show farmers there is a future in agriculture and do not make it more restrictive and close it down. I want to work with the Minister on this. We all want to get it across the line, but what is being presented is scaring farmers. That should not be happening.”
“I understand that and I take the Minister's point but at the end of the day, there are issues, particularly in my part of the world, with people in rural areas finding it difficult to get planning permission. If their lands are designated, what will happen if they are in GAEC 2? Will that be an issue for them? There are also serious problems for farmers with ambitions to expand their lands or grow their holdings. They need reassurance on the future value of that land. They need to get reassurance around all of those issues to make this palatable for farmers. Many farmers, particularly in the west and north west, are organising public meetings. They are annoyed and upset that this will be another designation that is detrimental to their future.”