Michael McNamara (Clare, Labour) | Oireachtas source

If the Minister, in his role as Minister for Defence, does not have a role in supervising boats in our territorial waters or boats which dock in Ireland, I am more worried than I was at the start of this debate. I am not being flippant; we have a role in patrolling the issue. The reality is that since as far back as the 1990s and the days when Deputy Rabbitte said that departmental officials were getting presents from Larry Goodman, departmental policy has favoured processors and made sure that as few cattle as possible leave Ireland on the hoof. That is not a bad policy per sebut it is a bad policy when it is used by processors to drive down prices. That is what they are doing, and they are doing it on the Minister's watch.

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