Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I support the call by Senator O'Donovan for the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to engage with the fishing industry and, of course, on the wider issue of the need for the Government to appoint a Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, given that it has now been more than five months since that post was vacated through the tragic death of our late colleague, the former Minister of State and Deputy, Shane McEntee. It may be that there is no one capable of replacing Mr. McEntee, who was an excellent Minister of State. However, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney, is currently dealing with the Common Agricultural Policy, the Common Fisheries Policy, the fodder crisis, which he has not dealt with at all well, and, of course, the horsemeat controversy, which was not dealt with either. We need the appointment of a Minister of State. I am not saying it, but some are arguing that the reason the Taoiseach is not appointing a Minister of State is that he is waving a carrot to backbenchers before the abortion vote. That is disgraceful and amounts to using a ministerial position to gain and to garner support for legislation that I do not agree with.