Paddy Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I know that there is a time constraint so I will be brief. I welcome the delegation and thank Deputy Pringle for bringing forward the legislation. We are not getting into the detail of this until we get to Committee Stage of either House, but where is the line drawn in regard to investment or who has the final say over whether something is a good project and is within the criteria or that it is not within the criteria?

Trócaire does magnificent work in Africa. The population of Africa is growing, it will grow by a billion by 2050, and all those people will have to have food and they will have to provide much of this food themselves. There are small companies such as McHale Farm Machinery, Malone Farm Machinery, Keenan, and many other farm machinery companies throughout the country who, I presume, could be getting funding from the State bank, ISIF. These are machines that will be driven by tractors that run on fossil fuels. Where would the witnesses draw the line? Would it be in the manufacture of those machines, or in the funding of those small companies? Would they say that this is a company that would be covered by this legislation? Would it stop investment in some of those companies? Who decides that the investment can or cannot be made in those companies because it does not fit the criteria of the legislation?