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

On health, I do not know how much money the Minister proposes to put into the HSE this year but it is not performing the way anyone wishes it would. I do not know if money is the answer because so many things have gone wrong. Respite care was mentioned. Telling elderly people that they must wait until the middle of November for home help is ridiculous and nonsensical. Carers are waiting a long time to get a payment. Some people for whom they are caring have actually died before the carers got paid for caring for them.

On agriculture, farmers are wondering what is going on with this €100 million or is it €50 million? Must they reduce stock to qualify for this funding or is it intended for farmers who are genuinely suffering and have lost money? I must remind the Minister and Minister of State, Deputy D'Arcy, that in 2013, the then Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney, told farmers to increase production. The current Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Creed, and Commissioner Phil Hogan are telling farmers that they must reduce production. I have to remind the Government that in the meantime, farmers have spent millions - money they had and money they did not have but borrowed. They are now being told that they must reduce production when they might have no way of paying back that money and that they should plant some of their land. For the Government to dictate to farmers in this way rather than working with them is very unfair. It is ridiculous to think that after a short space of years, the Government is now telling farmers that they must reduce production and not grow any more.

The threat of carbon tax is another issue. I would tell the Minister and Minister of State and even Fianna Fáil that all they are doing at the moment is trying to be greener than the Green Party. They will have to be practical and bring forward practical solutions. The Government is imposing deadlines on working-class and poor people and suggesting they must get out of their cars when they cannot manage without them in rural Ireland. There is no place to plug in and charge an electric car. It is like putting the cart before the horse because that is what the Government is doing. It is hurting the people and the people are scared. There will be a general election. The Government must realise this and it will get its answer on the doorstep when it goes to the people.

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