Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 30 November 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Environmental Impact of Local Emissions: Discussion

Photo of Jackie CahillJackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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Thank you. I will conclude the meeting. I do not know how we are going to take this to the next stage. The only commitment I will make this evening is that the committee will meet in private session and we will discuss what we can do to take this forward. As someone said, a full tribunal is outside the scope of this committee. However, we have heard the evidence this evening and it is on the record of the Oireachtas after this fairly long hearing. That, in itself, is important. The evidence that Mr. Brennan has given and the submission he has made are all now on the public record.

I will close the meeting. I thank Mr. Brennan for coming in and thank all the witnesses, his neighbours and friends and, most importantly, his good wife for coming in and for presenting the case to us. It would be any farmer's worst nightmare to have a situation like this on your farm and to have that kind of trauma over that period of time, getting up in the morning and not knowing what you would face when you go out the door onto your farm. It was horrific. I met Mr. Brennan on a few occasions and I am very familiar with the case at this stage. We will sit down as a committee to see how we can progress it and to see what is the best way to bring justice. As Mr. Brennan said to me on a couple of occasions, all he wants is to be told that the issues on his farm were not of his making.