Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with Deputies Fitzmaurice and McNamara. I wish Deputy McConalogue all the best and congratulate him on his elevation to the position of Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. I also wish Deputy James Browne the best on his promotion to Minister of State. I have no doubt that the incoming Minister, Deputy McConalogue, will fill the position well and I hope he stays in it longer that the previous two incumbents did. His appointment will be vitally important for Donegal. I do not think Deputy McConalogue plays golf and I hope that means he will be longer lived in the role. In all seriousness, there are a lot of issues that need to be dealt with and the incoming Minister knows well what those issues are, especially in regard to small farmers, who are the lifeblood of farming and make up the majority of farmers in this country. I hope he will oversee the full convergence and flattening of payments under the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, which is what he espoused when he was in opposition. That is vitally important for farming in this country.

Coming from Donegal and with Greencastle right on his doorstep, the incoming Minister will understand the importance of the marine part of his portfolio. Unfortunately, the marine sector has been left behind a lot relative to agriculture within the ministerial brief to which he is being appointed. I hope he will give the fishing industry, which is vitally important as well, the attention it needs. It is interesting that the Taoiseach headed off some of the problems for Deputy McConalogue before he was appointed by introducing the penalty system last week. I hope that does not augur how the fishing industry will be treated with in the coming years. I wish the incoming Minister well and I hope everything works out for him in his role. I hope things work out for small farmers and fishermen as well.

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