Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)

I will be there. The Government is throwing the baby out with the bathwater in many areas. I have no hang-ups about selling some of our State assets, but I have a hang-up if they are to be sold to pay off our debt - a debt that is too high and which the ordinary working people did not incur. I welcome the referendum that was announced today and I also welcome the reversal in the cuts to the DEIS schools. However, I do not welcome that the rural schools will suffer as a result. I applaud anybody who acknowledges a mistake and tries to correct it. However, mistakes in that area also need to be corrected.

Selling off the timber in Coillte woods may be an ideal way to look at it. As someone said earlier, one needs to sweat them hard to make them pay like any crop. However, these crops have a 30 to 40-year cycle. Will the land be available for recreational purposes for people to take walks etc.? If we are going to sell it, it should be for the harvest time for a period of a few years before they are ready for harvesting and get a new crop in. What about the carbon credit issue? Will we lose them also? What about the employees? They should be paramount especially for Labour Party Ministers in the spirit of James Larkin and James Connolly. Many good employees gave their lives to and have worked very hard for the forest service and latterly Coillte. They had pride in their work and their forests. One used to see entrances to forests with stiles that were painted showing the respect they had. However, now it is laid waste under Coillte because it is all about making a fast buck and there is no pride in fencing off forests from farmlands.

Many people worked at Telecom Éireann and the sale of that company did not do any justice to the workers and resulted in us losing control over valuable infrastructure in that area. We should make haste slowly and examine what happened with Eircom and how many times it has been sold on since.

I do not want to see retired politicians, who may have made some contribution here, or former public servants who have been paid off with large pensions now working as lobbyists. A very senior former politician has been linked with the sale of Coillte, which is scandalous. For people leaving with large lump sums and pensions there should be a moratorium of at least ten years - if ever - before they can return as lobbyists.

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