Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is not an easy job to unite all of the farm organisations but they are all united in the belief that this was an insensitive and insane move. Notwithstanding Deputy Browne’s valid concerns, people are asking what exactly was the purpose of this, how much it cost and whether it was the case that when the cat is away, the mice will play, given the fluctuation in the ministerial post.

Would the Minister have allowed this to happen or stood over it if he had been in office at the time? I suspect he would not. I suspect he would have done what the former Minister, Deputy Creed, apparently did which was to say, "Put them back in the drawer as we have better things to be doing at the moment".

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