Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I did not ask about Irish Water. I mentioned 50% extraction, Lough Talt in Sligo and other places around the country and outflow points. I said that many are in designated areas. When one looks to put in new machinery to get better quality drinking water for people, An Taisce objects. Will this be the policy? That is my question. An Taisce is not worried about Irish Water and I am not dealing with it.

That is a debate to be held somewhere else. Would the witnesses support controlled burning by a co-op under an RSS in certain rural areas where there might not be a lot of employment? Burning in areas of control is good for getting wildlife back as it regenerates. The 2025 agricultural policy has to go ahead because if we do not keep people working we will see what we saw in 2009, that is, 240,000 people leaving the country.

In response to Mr. Stewart, we may be on good wages but we do maybe 100 hours a week, which many people would not do. We have to deal with the people in our villages, our parishes, our provinces and our country. He said we would not reach the targets and that is only common sense because they were delusional.