James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)

There is a sense of futility in the outcome that makes it almost a waste of time to speak on this Bill. We are here for the second time this week to speak about animal matters and I am haunted by the thought of the human population in this country who, through the actions of this Government, are suffering untold hardship. The Green Party Minister has an agenda that will be extended to another Bill concerning greyhounds in the next Dáil term which no amount of human suffering will deflect.

We should make no mistake that this is an anti-rural agenda. I love animals and dogs in particular but there is a time and place for the discussion of everything. Given rising unemployment figures, cutbacks in health and other services and the despair we see around us in the final days of the Dáil session before the summer recess, we should be addressing pressing social and economic issues. Yesterday, news emerged that more than 100 jobs are under threat in my constituency. This should be debated. I tried to raise the matter and the Ceann Comhairle is well aware of that.

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