Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I genuinely think this is a very serious matter. As I said to the Chair on countless occasions, my primary reason for having an interest in this matter is because the mushroom sector in particular has provided a lifeline to a part of my constituency that had virtually no other economic activity and had become a world leader in that sector. It is not without its faults. Nobody is suggesting it is, no more than any other sector. It is crucially important to the local economy and we will lose it, potentially, for nothing. There will be no good for the environment. There will be no good for anything bar whatever is the esteem of some people at south Dublin dinner parties to be able to say they have done something where, in effect, they have done nothing in real terms. What interactions have the witnesses had with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine in respect of the legislative framework? Do they feel that there is a mechanism within that Department considering that is where everybody else has decided to lay the burden of responsibility? Do they have a view as to whether or not that Department has the capacity and the power to bring forward proposals that would resolve the issues that we have heard? I will leave it at that.