Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I would like a reply to my questions from the Minister, and if he cannot give an answer here, I would like a written reply to each of them.

Will the Minister support a beef regulator? That is a simple question with a "Yes" or "No" answer.

While in opposition, the Minister stated he would change the 30-month and four-movement rules. Is he willing to do that?

Does the Minister intend to bring in a sucker welfare scheme? I voted on a motion that the Minister brought to the previous Dáil seeking to bring in such a scheme.

The price of beef has plummeted all of a sudden. It is as well to tell the Minister straight out that there is speculation that some of the retail operators have told the factories to pull back to three days a week because there will be a shortage of cattle later, and the longer they hold back to three days a week, the more of an opportunity there will be to flood the market. This needs investigating but the task force is not sitting. Will the Minister get the chairman of the task force to sit at least once a month? Farmers only hear what happens a month after the task force meets and they need to be able to see what happens live. That is important.

A farming group came to me the other night. Deputy McNamara was also involved. That group of independent farmers is meeting all politicians. They are seeking a Zoom meeting with the Minister. It is not that they are looking to go face to face with him. They are looking for a Zoom meeting and the Minister has not come back to them on the matter. Will the Minister give them that Zoom meeting?

I will turn to carbon tax. Am I correct in saying that if I am a fisherman going out in a boat, I do not pay carbon tax? I would agree with that. Is that also the case for a boat bringing people over and back to England? Is it a fact that if I am providing a service such as the LÉ Aoife, I do not pay carbon tax? Yet a contractor going in to a farmer has to pay carbon tax. Is that fair? A new document from Europe is out at the moment relating to exporting and the movement of cattle. Anyone who reads it will realise that the writing will be on the wall in the next ten years. Will the Minister put the boot in on that matter?

It was agreed that cattle would be weighed going into factories and that the opportunity would be there for farmers. It was never done. There is another major problem for the marts and the pedigree stock owners who sell in the marts, that is, the top 20% generally goes to the UK.

There are stipulations at the moment that the cattle have to be quarantined for 40 days. Has the Minister contacted his English counterpart to resolve this issue because it is causing major problems? Could the Minister send me an answer to all of the questions, one by one? I want to let Deputy McNamara in. I do not want an essay; I want straight, blunt answers.

See this speech in context