Ireland has changed hugely in the past 40 years or more. As a country, we were a net exporter of labour until 40 years ago. Things have changed. Very large families were the norm and people died younger. We also had an economy which struggled. Now, much of that has changed and as society becomes more affluent, families get smaller and people live longer. Those two things mean that we are going to need an awful lot of labour to come from somewhere else, and that is similar across every country in Europe. We particul…

We are here this evening to try to appeal to the Minister to ensure that these transport hikes do not go ahead in circumstances where across the country we have so many people who simply cannot get public transport in the first place. For example, I was with Irish Rail earlier, and we talked about the commuter service into Sligo town where the earliest train in the morning gets in there at ten o'clock. There is no train for people going to appointments, work or college. Irish Rail says that it has put in place the …

We have a serious issue in the north west in regard to transport infrastructure. The issue of infrastructure has been raised by many Members and the Tánaiste has given commitments in regard to critical infrastructure. The western rail corridor is a particularly critical piece of infrastructure for the centres of population from Sligo right down along the western seaboard. It is welcome that the part from Athenry to Claremorris is now going to be developed. Work is progressing on that. However, in the context of the…

I thank Independent Ireland for bringing forward this motion. I am disappointed the Government is once again negating its impact. We are seven months into this crisis and the situation is only getting worse, with diesel prices hitting more than €2.20 per litre at the forecourts. Home heating oil costs €1,600 for 1,000 litres and green diesel is almost €1.70 per litre for farmers. As workers and families suffer, the prices continue to rise at the pump and the Government is the only one winning, with record revenues …

A failed Government.

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. This debate is really about the opportunities that Irish unification would offer as opposed to the difficulties that might arise. There are opportunities, particularly in the agriculture sector, which I deal with mos…

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. Recently, the Government has decided to put special mental health nursing teams in place in a number of hospitals. That is very welcome. However, a lot of the hospitals have been left out…

I want to find out what is happening in regard to CAP. We want to see if there is any progress in relation to the proposed budget and retaining the Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 structure which has served Ireland well up to now. During Ireland's Presidency, how much progress can we realistically make towards securing a full and proper budget which will sustain Irish farmers and European agriculture?

I appreciate that but negotiations can only get you so far when you do not have the budget. We need to secure the budget and that is why I want to focus on that more than anything. Over six months of the Presidency, we need to secure that and get agreement on an increased budget. A decrease of approximately 20% will be devastating for Irish agriculture and for many sectors. I am thinking of the suckler sector in my area, which really depends on these funds. If these funds are cut, it will have a detrimental effect …

I appreciate that and food security is certainly central to this. Every time somebody from the European Commission speaks, they talk about security but as we know with the various conflicts, and we have seen what is happening again in Iran, primary to security in Europe will be food security. We need to focus on ensuring we keep our agricultural sector vibrant and producing. If we do not do so, we will have a food security problem. To go back to the other issues with the Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 structure, and the pos…

What engagement has the Minister had with Bord Bia in relation to the report on the review of governance procedures in that organisation? Farmers and farmer organisations are still saying very clearly that this report is not adequate, that farmers do not have confidence in the chair of Bord Bia and that as long as he remains there, they will find it very difficult to have confidence in Bord Bia as an organisation that implements the quality assurance scheme. How can we finally resolve this ongoing situation?

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. This is at the same time that Irish farmers, Irish consumers and European consumers have serious difficulties with that product. The European Commission has gone so far as to ban the importation of Brazilian beef, notwithstanding the Mercosur trade agreement, and…

Agreed.

Of course.

I am not in dispute with the Minister in that respect. Nobody is. Nobody is saying that is not the situation. The problem is that credibility and authenticity are also central to people’s confidence and the chair of Bord Bia has lost that confidence because of the situation whereby his companies are not part of Origin Green, a programme that the board he chairs was saying all companies that produce food in Ireland should be part of. It is part of the system we are trying to put in place, yet his company was not par…

You are.

Deal with the point I made.

The report did not look at what it was meant to look at.

So, the confidence of farmers does not matter.

Sinn Féin welcomes what is being done. We need to see this funding provided to post offices as quickly as possible. For many communities, this is too little, too late because in my part of the world and in much of rural Ireland, large numbers of post offices have closed down. It seems the only model An Post will work with is one where the post office moves into a supermarket in a large town. That is happening all over the country. It means there has to be a business that will provide footfall so people can make mon…