Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is with O'Leary in the grave. That is what the Government wants: nothing in rural Ireland, a wasteland. We have announcement after announcement here and there about this, that and the other. The Minister can smile and laugh all he likes. We have the Minister of State with responsibility for the Gaeltacht, the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with responsibility for greyhounds and horses and the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. Anyway, we need to have joined-up thinking. We need to allow our people to work. We are not going to get back to the comely maidens dancing at the crossroads. That was a time when they all had to cycle to work on penny farthing bikes. That is what the Government is going to reduce rural Ireland to if it is not careful. We are not going to take all the blame for all the climate change.

I look forward in particular to the contribution of Deputy Ryan afterwards. His mother or grandmother came from Tiobraid Árann - he often tells me that. Deputy Ryan should think about Tipperary and rural Ireland and the rural economy. One in seven of the jobs are in agriculture. We cannot banish all of agriculture.

What about cutting the turf? My goodness, was it ever cut? It was a good pastime, a healthy recreation and part of our heritage and culture. The Government wants to stop the ordinary man going out to cut a little turf to heat and warm himself. The Government wants to pay people to stay at home and do nothing and give them the fuel allowance. Is that what the Government wants? It is totally anti-God, anti-nature, anti-health and anti-everything to be sitting for that long with everything going up the chimney. Since he got bad summers, the farmer will not be able to dry enough turf. Even if he turns it two or three times, it will not burn for him. Anyway, he is entitled to do that. It is part of his heritage and culture, as it was for many generations before him. They should be allowed to continue it.

Is it like Cromwell – to hell or to Connacht? The Government will not even leave them in Connacht now. My good friend beside me is from Connacht. The Government wants to send them all overseas and export them. Bord na Móna has 1,600 jobs, many of which are in my county. We are going to lay them all off. The plan is to go to biomass and ship it in here. In the name of God, the lunatics are running the asylum by bringing up this legislation. They are going to ship it in here and then burn it. However, we know it is difficult to burn anyway.

I do not know where the Government is coming or going from. Thanks to Deputy Fitzmaurice, an email came in to me this evening. It was from the Irish Farmers' Journal. I imagine he will get it up on the screen of his iPad. It is a photograph of a horse and a tractor and plough. The EU is now going to tell us what way to plough the field and what direction we should go. Next thing, they will have us back with the horse and plough. They will have us tied on. We will be pulling the plough. We will not even be allowed the horse in case he breaks wind and causes emissions. We are gone stark raving mad. They want to tell us what way to plough the field and what direction we should plough the field. What kind of fields there are in Donegal? I am unsure whether the Minister, Deputy Ross, can see any fields where he lives. Anyway I know the Minster of State, Deputy Doyle, is a tillage farmer. I am unsure what is going on over in Galway, but, my God, it is madness to tell anyone what way to plough the field and in what direction.

It is no wonder we have Brexit. We will have more Brexit. We might want an Irish exit, Irexit. It is scandalous. I have the photograph before me. The Deputies should look at it. There is a nice sod turned. It was taken during the ploughing match. It is a little crooked. It was a Ford with a reversible plough. Now, those in the EU in Brussels dictate what direction fields are ploughed. I rest my case. It is madness. The lunatics are not only running the asylums but they are running this place as well. As I said, this legislation and all the announcements are crazy.

It is a pity the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Naughten, is gone. I salute him for some of the efforts he has made. He is trying some initiatives, but it is all too little too late. We have let the madness into the machinery of State. There is brainwave after brainwave. However, once the EU says something like that, our own geniuses tell us that we cannot plough the fields at all and that we must spray them and leave them as wasteland. We pay people to leave them idle, like with the set-aside scheme. It is madness of the highest degree. There is serious cause for concern.

We must listen and pay our fair share but we must not blame the people of rural Ireland. We need electric buses and electric cars, but until some of these initiatives are rolled out, Paddy, Mary and Tommy must go to work. They want to work. Jimmy and Nelly must go to the bog and cut the turf. They can have the tea in the bog and have a large bath when they come home. They cannot have two baths until tomorrow. The Minister will tell them they are not allowed to have two or they will be arrested and locked up forever. The people of rural Ireland are being terrorised with intimidating legislation. None of it is rural-proofed or rural-assessed. None of it is financial-proofed. None of it is understood. None of it is even meaningful. It is a sad day when we are dishing out all this legislation day after day here. We are simply churning it out and creating so much paper.

What about all the carbon credits for all the paper that is wasted on initiatives? The members of the Cabinet should have a serious think. The Minister may go away to meet the rest of the Cabinet tonight. They might have a Cabinet dinner. The Minister, Deputy Ross, should go and meet them and talk to them. They can carry on being merry and to hell with the people of rural Ireland.

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