Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

To continue Deputy McLoughlin's point, north of the Dublin to Galway line there has been consistent negligence by consecutive Governments in the provision of services. We did not vote to leave the EU or Ireland, but sometimes it feels like it when one considers the neglect. It is easy to write a report or criteria for closing things down. The Minister of State said it will be down to a cost-benefit analysis. What cost does he put on equality of services to the farming families of the north west and to the biosecurity of the part of the country that produces 40% of the country's weanlings? What cost do we put on correctly managing the surveillance of disease outbreak? Deputy McLoughlin and Deputy Fitzmaurice have spoken on this. This is a cross-party matter. It is not parish pump politics or looking for the Sligo Olympic bid to be successful and supported by the Government. We are seeking continuity of services and some level of geographical equality so people can get to the services. This is not the Netherlands. Ireland is not as small as the Netherlands and it does not have the road infrastructure to allow a collection system to work effectively. I appeal to the Minister of State to listen to his colleague, Deputy McLoughlin, and to Deputy Fitzmaurice and me on this issue.

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