Mr. Connie O'Driscoll:

Go raibh maith agat. In the next few minutes, we would like to tell the committee how we finished up here in Seanad Éireann on a Monday afternoon. We would be much more at ease back on the highways and byways of west Cork, in our comfort zone.

I would like to tell the committee a bit about our club, Mizen Rovers, the programme in that club, care for our players, how that prompted us to make a submission to the committee and how the ideas in that submission might in some way help us reduce the number of fatalities. Those who suffer serious injuries have not been mentioned, but this can have an impact on the continuation of their farm business. I commend the Oireachtas on setting up this committee to deal with such a serious issue for rural Ireland. We believe it requires drastic but co-ordinated action. We need to resolve the problem because it is now a crisis.

On behalf of our club, Mizen Rovers and the community we left early this morning, I thank the Chairman for inviting us here. We feel privileged and honoured to be among the elite of the farming communities. We are from a very small GAA club at the far end of west Cork and are humbled to be here in Seanad Éireann to be part of this process. At the same time we feel it is appropriate that we should be here because we represent a GAA club and the GAA should play a big part in resolving this problem. Of course its core business is playing games but the remit for care of the players should be broadened beyond playing the games. We do not officially represent Croke Park but in a strange way we have an unofficial mandate to represent the GAA family, which is a big family in Ireland with its roots in rural Ireland. The tradition began in farming. We do not come with any statistics or figures. We come with simple suggestions that could be very effective if put into action. The fact we come from, were reared on, and have reared families on farms gives us a bit of credibility to speak on this issue. We coach kids at all levels in our GAA club and at regional level.

We made a submission for several reasons. Our area is no different from any other area. We are not immune from farm accidents and we have had tragedies in recent years and have seen their effect not only on families but on the farming community and the community that surrounds it. Often the GAA is called in to support families in that situation and it is very good at doing that. We come from a very small club at the far end of the Mizen Peninsula in west Cork, probably one of the most beautiful parts of Ireland, and we think it is the most beautiful part of the world. If one has not been there, one has not lived. It is a really nice place.