P J Sheehan (Cork South West, Fine Gael)

I support the remarks of our spokesperson on agriculture, Deputy Creed. None of the Minister's party colleagues is here in the House to hear me give this address. I hope they will be in later and that they will take heed of what I say. They have been whipped into voting against their constituents who elected them, or have they? Will the Minister take a stand against the farmers he represents both in his constituency and throughout this country? Is he voting in the best interests of his constituents or is he hiding behind the whip? Has he thought about what he is voting for and what he is voting against? I remind him that some years ago we had a brave Minister for Finance, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, who was not afraid to make the right decision when the civil servants in that Department responded to a proposal with the words: "On balance, Minister, we can find no good reason to recommend against this proposal". The Minister and I know the same applies to Deputy Creed's proposal. How can the Minister vote against a proposal that makes sense? However, as I have said previously, common sense is not very common on the Government side of the House.

I will explain the situation. The central structure of most farm waste management systems is an underground effluent tank. This tank is the first part of the structure to be constructed, with the slatted house then erected over the tank. The construction of these tanks was jeopardised this year by the wettest summer on record. The health and safety of workers were put at risk with excavations collapsing, sides slipping into the excavation and, in thousands of cases, flooding rendering the sites unworkable for weeks at a time.

However, even before this stage could be reached, a mountain of bureaucracy had to be climbed, involving the planning authorities, the farm waste management scheme bureaucracy, waste management authorities, health and safety bodies and the Revenue Commissioners. Last, but not least, it was necessary to secure the finance in the middle of a credit crunch. The fact that this bureaucratic mountain was not factored into the timescale for these projects is the root of the problem we are debating. If the new Oireachtas committee on Ireland's future in Europe wishes to investigate the reasons for the rejection of the Lisbon treaty, there is no better example of why scepticism of the European model has gripped people than the typical use by Fianna Fáil of yet another three card trick.

The first card in this case is that Europe set new standards for the farm waste management scheme. The second card is delivered under protest where a grant system is introduced with multiple bureaucratic conditions and tight deadlines. The third card, as we all know, disappears; nobody knows where it went. The Minister might wish to blame Brussels but has anybody sought a reaction in Brussels to this proposal, as there might be more common sense over there? In fact, why has nobody asked Brussels for its reaction to this proposal?

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