Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. It is clear that beef production is fast becoming non-viable. It is obvious that farmers are already upset. It is fair to say they are furious at this stage. While there were significant efforts to resolve the current dispute, particularly over the weekend, the problem is that people are not prepared to work for nothing. It is often stated that the most dangerous people are those who have nothing to lose. We can see today, as the protests continue, that this is the case. Not only are individual farmers affected, we can see the knock-on effects for those working within the sector and the communities in which they live, with in the region of 6,000 workers and their families affected. There is a high degree of uncertainty for that sector in all of this.

It is important that we tell the truth about farming-----

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