Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to congratulate the Minister. Déanaim comhghairdeas leis an Teachta agus lena chlann go léir. Deputy McConalogue's wife, Jackie, his two young boys, his home town of Gleneely in the north of Inishowen and the entire constituency of Donegal will be delighted. Importantly, the new Minister comes from a farming background.

I thank the previous Minister, Deputy Calleary, and acknowledge that he had resigned before the 8 o'clock news the morning after the story broke. He is an honourable and decent politician who saw that he had made a mistake - a major one, although he did travel to speak about a long-serving deceased friend. He did that in good faith but it was the wrong decision. He has acknowledged that and stepped down.

I want to assure the new Minister that we in the Rural Independent Group will work closely, honestly, fairly and hard with him and with the Government to try to rescue the situation in farming. By rescue, I mean support. Farmers want to support themselves, but face issues such as Mercosur, Brexit and this year's weather conditions. While it has turned out to be a great year, there will be a difficult harvest. I was in the Minister's constituency last week on a trip through Donegal and I am happy to report that it had a good summer, unlike what we faced in the south east and other parts of the country. The Minister will have our support.

The will have to deal with many issues. He will need to tackle the beef barons and the power of Meat Industry Ireland, MII, which the last Minister did not do. Last year farmers gave up their summer to stand outside the factory gates in protest. They are not normally given to protesting, but they were looking for recognition as the sole primary producers of prime beef and for a decent price. The then Minister, Deputy Creed, set up a review group run by an insider, a former head of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. We need independent oversight of the beef industry. Deputy Kelly has spoken about the need to respect workers' rights. Of course workers need rights, but farmers, who are the primary producers, do not get any sick pay and have no-one to support them. They have to take what they get. It is important that we support the workers and I support them. I acknowledge the jobs provided by the meat industry, but there must be transparency and openness there as well.

I also wish the new Minister of State, Deputy Browne, well in the Department of Justice and Equality and I know he will make his mark there. His dad, with whom I served in Dáil Éireann, will be proud to see him do so.

There are huge issues facing agriculture. I refer to red tape. Forestry has been mentioned. People in that sector cannot get felling licences. One serial objector, who is an ardent member of the Green Party, has submitted 80 objections though he lives here in Dublin. This is nonsense. We must change this. People have invested hugely in forestry and have been encouraged to do so. A 40-year growth cycle is a long time to wait for payments. Contractors are lined up to cut timber. They have machinery costing up to €2 million. All of this lies idle because of a serial objector. That cannot be fair or right.

The concerns of agriculture must be recognised. We want the Association of Farm and Forestry Contractors in Ireland, FCI, and all the other independent farmers' associations to be recognised. We have seen the cosy cartels between the big farming organisations and the Government too many times. We saw what happened with the distasteful incident in Galway and I thank the Ceann Comhairle for his very wise words today.

As a final word, I appeal to the Minister as a member of the Cabinet to please respect the publicans of rural Ireland. There has been a system of apartheid towards them. I refer to one young man, TJ McInerney, who runs TJ Mac's bar in Mullinahone with his family. It is associated with the famed CJ Kickhams Mullinahone GAA Club. Like other rural people, all he wants is to open his pub. Businessmen like him intend to be here next week in a deputation to meet Ministers and the Taoiseach and to explain that they want to file tax returns next October. They want to resume trading and providing employment. They want to be able to provide a pint, a cup of tea or coffee or a meal to the farmers who are trying to salvage the harvest. These farmers come home from the mart and are now even more lonely because they have no place to go. The pubs in many villages, tá siad imithe. They are gone and long forgotten. Farmers want to be able to go into the Stack of Barley in Mullinahone. They want to go into TJ Mac's, a pub run by a proud business family and a political family of decades' standing.

TJ McInerney has single-handedly organised the publicans. Where Tipperary leads, Ireland follows. The publicans will be here next Tuesday unless the Government allows the pubs to open before that. They do not want to come here. They will be careful and maintain social distancing, but they want to be heard. Fair play is fine play. That is all they want from the new Minister and the new Minister of State. They want to be allowed to trade. They have done nothing wrong but they have been victimised, criminalised and demonised. They need to be able to run their businesses according to guidelines, and let them prove themselves that they are right. Unlike any other sector in the country, they must apply for licences annually, and there is the process there for weeding out the few bad publicans. Where Tipperary leads, Ireland follows. I salute TJ McInerney and his family for what they want to do.

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