Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)

I agree with what Deputy Moynihan has said about flexibility. Regardless of the decisions we make, we should stand by them. We cannot have an open-ended approach even if there is a roadway or a field of barley between the farms, or if the four-month or six-month rule applies. One has to do the whole lot together. Reference has been made to wildlife. In the 1960s, there were approximately 2,500 or 3,000 deer in this country. That number had increased to 25,000 by the 1980s. At present, there are almost 250,000 wild deer in Ireland. If we do not do something about that, in five years' time there will as many deer as there are unemployed people.

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