Shane McEntee (Meath, Fine Gael)

We should be able to stand over everything we eat. We should ensure that when the building boom ends, our agriculture sector will not have disappeared. Everyone knows that it has practically disappeared. Only 10,000 farmers will be producing food in the next five or six years given the introduction of various measures prohibiting farmers from producing certain foods.

The case cited by me concerning the family in Ashbourne, where seven or eight jobs were lost, is a reflection of how the big players can push out the small operator. I can understand why busy people choose to shop in places where they can pick up everything they need in five minutes at a good price. However, everyone knows that if small farmers or businesses are put out of business, prices will rise in ten years' time and food stores will introduce greater mark-ups. Such developments are taking place in the milk industry. Cheap milk from the United Kingdom is entering the Irish market because farmers have abandoned the land in England and the country has excess quota, which is entering the Northern Ireland market at 1p or 2p per litre. The farmers in Northern Ireland can then flood the market down here. It is a pity that Ireland cannot obtain some of this quota, which might sustain some of our farmers who must produce 155,000 gallons of milk per year to make a half decent wage. It will drive the dairy farmer out of business; a scenario which will be replicated in every other sector of our food industry.

I hope the debate on this Bill will continue and that when the building boom ends or stalls, our agriculture and villages will still exist. I hope our economy never collapses. The boom will continue for another 15 or 20 years because, through no fault of our own, we have only recently been capable of building this country up to the required standard. Everyone is responsible for ensuring the survival of our agriculture and villages, particularly the Ministers for Agriculture and Food and the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, who apparently did not want to listen to the farming community the other day. Agriculture, tourism, food, small villages and pubs are the reason for this country's success.

Ireland is a jolly nation and its people do not wish to become robots and be forced to travel 30 or 40 miles to buy their groceries on Saturday night or Sunday morning. That is the direction in which Irish retail is heading. Shops are open at the weekend not only from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. but from 6 a.m to 8 a.m., which is madness. I hope changes might be made to this Bill or that people might realise that agriculture and the food chain are major parts of this country and that small villages cannot be allowed to disappear.

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