Willie Penrose (Westmeath, Labour)

Mary is a grand person.

I will speak up on behalf of those people. There will be many loopholes in these regulations. At the first opportunity, somebody will say this is the regulation, this is how it is implemented and to hell with all those excuses from the like of Penrose, who knows nothing about it. We know something about it. When this regulation is brought in — it is only a draft regulation at present — I will do what is necessary to ensure the interpretation given to it reflects the realities on the ground, not what somebody feels is right. There is too much paternalism in this country and in Europe. It is time to give farmers an opportunity. There is already this racket whereby people cannot produce free range eggs which are the finest eggs in the country. Will we say to farmers they cannot produce a drop of milk because they do not have a prescription for this particular intramammary? It is time we cried stop to the madness and bureaucracy coming from Europe.

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