Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

I have been known to deliver orations in 30 seconds, as has the Ceann Comhairle, I am sure.

What concerns me most about this Bill is the attack on rural life. In recent years we have seen the gradual erosion of the rights and entitlements of people living in rural areas. For example, one can no longer cut turf, smoke or drink. One cannot drain land because all land must be a natural flood plain which eventually will rise and lift boats. One cannot build in rural areas. One is discouraged from building there because it is bad for society, and in general. One cannot shoot. If one applies for a gun licence, one must get a character reference from a reputable person who is not a member of the Garda Síochána - an extraordinary situation.

One cannot keep dogs. One cannot hunt. One cannot fish for eel. There is an extraordinary point related to that which greatly troubles me. When the European Commission issued a directive to the effect that individual member states should introduce conservation measures for the protection of eels, every other European country did just that. The Joint Committee on European Affairs repeatedly tried to encourage the relevant Minister, the colleague of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Gormley, to bring the measure before both Houses and the committee before he made a decision but the Minister treated the committee with contempt and refused point blank to have anything to do with it or to listen to members' views. He went ahead and banned eel fishing throughout the country, arbitrarily and in a fashion I shall leave to Members to describe.

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