M J Nolan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)

I stated when Carlow sugar factory closed down, and when Mallow closed down, that it was a disaster. It was wrong for the country. It was wrong for the farmers and for the families of the workers. This was an industry that gave thousands of families and individuals work on a seasonal basis.

The elephant in the room is Greencore. It is not the Minister or the Government. If Fine Gael was in Government, I would be saying the same.

At the time, the Tánaiste, who was the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, put on the record a clear explanation of how it went. Greencore are the mercenaries in this; the company decided it was getting out. It decided to get out because it wanted compensation but then greed took over. It saw an opportunity in Carlow. It brought up this grandiose planned called Gateway, and it did the same in Mallow. Not alone was it gilding the lily, but it was getting its compensation. It put Irish farmers and workers out of a profitable industry and denuded the country of a good rotation crop. It got greedy, and that is where the blame should lie.

Does this report give us any scope to go back to the Commission to get a quota and find those, be they farmers and whoever else, who would come into what is a profitable industry and start again in this country? I think we would find interest in it.

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