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

First, I sympathise with the Minister and his extended family on the death of his uncle.

I went to the ploughing championships today. It was a grand sight on a fine day. I met grand people from all over the country, especially Kerry. Every manufacturer and supplier that was at the championships today is dependent on the farmer. We are at a crossroads. I have raised this issue with the Minister and Taoiseach since early last year and throughout this year. These farmers cannot continue to operate at a loss. The deal that went through in the past few days is not satisfactory because it is not going to affect the base price.

As Deputy Fitzmaurice stated, €3.40 or €3.60 is not good enough. The Minister is as good at mathematics as anyone else. It will not work.

We looked for different things. The 70-day rule, which was a ministerial or departmental rule, was brought in on foot of BSE. Why can it not be got rid of now? The Minister is shaking his head but it is a fact that BSE is no longer an issue. There is no foot and mouth disease now. I am talking about the 30-month rule. An extra six months would mean that the cattle could be fed in grass and finished in grass and the farmers would get a little bit more out of them, but that is not what is happening. That was not adhered to. On the four-movement rule, if a carcase is hanging in a plant, can any man or woman tell me how many times it has been moved? It is ridiculous, yet if the CAP states that the animal has moved more than four times, the farmer is going to be paying.

Like everyone else, I love my bit of land. I bought it 25 years ago. Farmers are trying to stay on their land and continue with their activities but they are not being treated fairly by the factories.

I thank all the people who stood at the gates for the past number of weeks in order to highlight the blackguarding of the farmers. They gave of their time unselfishly. I thank the Beef Plan Movement for arranging all the meetings in Cahirciveen, Bantry, Castleisland, Listowel and Kenmare and at all the mart venues throughout County Kerry where farmers came to highlight the situation. They did not go there in the dark winter for fun. They are not being paid fairly, and all they want is a fair price.

It is sad that the Taoiseach stated he is doing his bit to reduce carbon emissions by not eating meat. That compounded the despondency among farmers and it is a sad reflection on the Taoiseach. We then had more people suggesting that we should increase our global carbon emissions targets to hurt farmers more. We know that oil is already dear enough and it is to increase because of something that is happening in Iran. When we talk about Iran-----

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