Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The problem here is if one goes into a bank tomorrow morning to buy a bit of land, it will ask quite openly if it is for forestry, dairy farming or beef farming. If one says forestry, straight away one will get better terms. One does not have to put up as much money to get that loan which, again, is outrageous. Something needs to be done on the basis of fair play. What has happened with a number of young progressive farmers in my area who want to be in agriculture and who want to get decent holdings is that they are placed in a situation where a forestry company does a deal with a farmer and the land is gone. They do not even get a chance to bid for that land. It could be 20 to 30 acres of pretty decent land and it is a shame that is happening. I am not going to hold people up any longer. The witnesses have had a long morning and the Chairman has been very fair to us all. We will have an opportunity to put other points again.

The reduction in the number of small businesses is a huge concern. Deputy Penrose is correct to a degree. We need to admit that many people are leaving their areas and are going to the bigger stores in regional towns. That is fine as people have a choice. For generations, we have had policy in our house that one spends as much of one's money as one possibly can close to home. I am not ashamed to say that my late father said, and my mother still says, that when we were young they did not always have the money to feed us, and the local shops in the local towns gave us food or whatever. We should never forget those type of stories. I will never be ashamed to tell that story.