Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

They certainly feel that it was taken from them in tougher times and that it should be restored to them. We all hear about it when a house is robbed or if there is a break-in, but it is daylight robbery that farmers whose land is designated for hen harrier protection are not getting compensation.

The land is rendered useless because they cannot farm it as they wish or plant forestry. They are held back. They cannot sell it. It is as if they were held at gunpoint and had their farms taken off them and they are entitled to compensation because of it. I do not know what the position is regarding the purse strings. I have no way of knowing what is there or if the Government has the money, but these people are entitled to compensation. We are hearing in many places about effects on the climate and are told that if forestry was planted it would help. In many places, however, farmers cannot plant trees because to get a grant and be allowed to plant, they must plant 80% of green ground. Many of these farmers do not have 80% of green ground and on that basis they are being denied. Furthermore, they are not being allowed to replant in many instances. At the same time, they cannot return the land to agriculture, which is very wrong.

I am very worried that the additional €85 million will fail to lead to improvements in health services. Will it again be consumed by the HSE? When elected members had a say on health boards, we got better results. We should go back to that. Every year since, our services have deteriorated. While I recognise that it is an attempt to do something, 1,800 staff are clearly too few. More than half will finish up in the greater Dublin area while places like University Hospital Kerry in Tralee remain understaffed. Look at the ICU and what nurses there go through at night because they are understaffed. We need more beds because there are people on trolleys. There were many people on trolleys in the middle of the summer but there is no plan or idea as to what to do about it. Kenmare hospital is only half-open as is Dingle hospital. At times and for whatever reason, only half the beds in the district hospital in Killarney are in use. We cannot understand why and we do not know if it is a staffing issue. We are very far behind in Kerry in terms of facilities for people who have severe mental health issues. We need urgent assistance to address the problems of mental health in Kerry. I am sure the Minister of State, Deputy Brendan Griffin, is aware of that.

Deputy Griffin is a Minister of State in the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. We need to invest more money in capital projects all around the country, especially in and around County Kerry. IBEC says we are investing the least per capitaof any country in the world. The Minister of State will tell me that we do not have the funding but the Government should be saying to the people in Europe that while we owe them money, we will pay them when we have it. The Germans did not finish paying for the First World War until about three or four years ago. That is a fact, but they are the people who have the money now. I am asking the Government to tackle them again. We should be allowed to spend money on capital projects. It will create work. Most of the money will come back again in PAYE and VAT while more people will be taken off the live register. I ask the Government to do that. It is something in regard to which we should all put our shoulders to the wheel. We will support the Government to do that because we feel it is very wrong that the current generation must pay all this debt. It should be spread out over a further 50 or 60 years so that two or three more generations share the burden. It is wrong that the current generation must pay for the whole lot.

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