Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It looks as though the Minister of State is going to reject every amendment proposed tonight. She did that in the Seanad, where she rejected all but one or two. She has her own agenda. I spoke to her in a call on Zoom last week. While I welcomed the Bill, it was weak. That is fair. It was put before us and we had the opportunity to put down amendments, which now she will reject one by one as if they were not relevant. It has been made quite clear tonight that while we were here to help, the Minister of State is not here to take that help. She has her mind made up on every amendment we have put down and from the way she is speaking, they all will be rejected. I cannot understand how Green Party or Fianna Fáil Deputies have come into the Chamber and supported what we are talking about but then the senior Minister will support her in not allowing any amendments go through. This new Dáil is becoming a game for Fianna Fáil. It did the same thing last night, where Deputies from my constituency of Cork South- West said one thing about the statutory instrument. Tonight we will see whether they will do another thing or whether they will vote against the statutory instrument. Last night, the Ministe, kicked the fishermen in the teeth and, by God, I can tell that they were watching last night. Tonight the farmers, timber operators, the forestry sector and the ordinary people of this country are watching him tonight. He should be very careful. That goes for the Minister of State too. There are a lot of angry people out there. They needed assistance. The Government has an opportunity here tonight not to reject our amendments but to work with them

Many landowners are very stressed. Many come to my clinic in west Cork all the time or have contacted me but I will give one simple example. One person contacted me who had a very sick person at home, although that is beside the point. The storm knocked down her forest but she cannot get a felling licence. If she does not get it in the next few months, it is pointless. This gives an idea of the nonsensical objections, the speed by which they should have been dealt, if there is a legitimate complaint. Obviously someone nearby should have an opportunity to appeal but it is scandalous to think that somebody living, say, 200 miles away can object to something that they probably know nothing about but are just objecting for the sake of it.

I ask the Minister of State to step back here. It is pointless telling us that she wanted to put her Bill, and her Bill only, before the people. As we have said, our amendments are from the heart, they were to help the Bill, which we had welcomed prior to this evening. Unfortunately, the Minister of State decided to reject our amendments, which were meant to help people to alleviate the stress people are experiencing. People are speaking out of both sides of their mouth. I am getting quite annoyed with this Dáil. We have given extra speaking rights to the bigger parties and they are coming into the House, speaking one way and when it comes to a vote, they do the other thing. Do they think they are fooling the electorate? Do they think the people of west Cork or Ireland are all shut-ears and blind-eyes? No, people know. They know what the Minister did with the statutory instrument and they will know tonight what way he will vote. If the Government will not allow our amendments, they will know that too. I ask the Minister of State to step back and reconsider allowing this amendment, which is very helpful in its attempt to speed up the appeal process, if not get rid of the right to appeal altogether, and get a decision with a more immediate effect. She has an opportunity to change her mind with this, but maybe she is in the House tonight simply as a box-ticking exercise, which is our worry. We will see.

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