Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will be fairly quick. Just like the other speakers, I encourage the Minister and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to look after the workers. There is a discrepancy between what we heard earlier and what the Department is saying. The farmers told us that they had 30 to 40 workers. It is still a small number of people who are losing their jobs because of the legislation. As Deputy Fitzmaurice said earlier, the Department should lead from the front and look after the workers in this situation.

Is there a particular reason that the farms should be closed down this year? I think the Minister’s statement stated that it had been envisaged to close down these farms in 2024. Why has this date been brought forward so much? Can the Minister give us an overall estimate of what farms are likely to get under the compensation?

I have a question for Mr. Greally on the price of removal of asbestos. I may not know a whole pile about mink farming, but I spent 35 years working on steel and using asbestos. I can assure Mr. Greally that there is a massive difference between removing asbestos roofs and fibre cement roofs and galvanised roofs. The figure of €50 would come nowhere near covering the cost of removing those kinds of roofs. Asbestos roof removal has to be done by someone with a licence. Every pallet of an asbestos roof has been double wrapped and sent to Germany for disposal. The person in the Department who came up with the figure of €50 needs to update the information. Like I said, I spent 35 years on that kind of work and I know a figure of €50 would come nowhere near what is needed. I will leave it at that. All of my other questions have been answered. I would appreciate if the Minister could answer those two questions.