Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputies Michael Collins, Danny Healy-Rae and Nolan for allowing me some of their speaking time on this very important subject. I also thank the Minister of State for being here to introduce this very important legislation. While it is a step in the right direction, it does not go far enough. I want to look back on the campaign that brought us to where we are. I thank all of the people who lobbied their politicians up and down the length and breadth of the country. I thank the people in Kerry, including those in the Kerry branches of the IFA and ICMSA. I too remember Joe Carroll. I remember meeting him and I do not mind saying on the record of the Dáil that he was a terribly nice man who really put his heart and soul into this campaign. He made a very strong impression on me with his own life situation. Similarly, many other people with whom I have been dealing over the years have been adversely impacted by the rules and regulations surrounding the fair deal scheme as it was.

A terribly important issue when speaking about farms, which I would love to knock on the head once and for all, also applies to pubs, shops and other type of business. When I hear people putting values on such businesses, it is obvious that they do not know what they are talking about. If a farm is worth a given amount of money - and I do not care what it is worth on paper - it is actually worth nothing, because it is not being sold. It is a tool for a family to make a living. It is a mechanism to make money. That is all it is. When one hears of a farmer expanding a farm and purchasing more land, all that farmer is doing is trying to improve his or her income. They are custodians of the land.

I thank our nursing homes and community hospitals for the work they have done over the pandemic. I thank the staff and the management for the efforts they have made in really difficult times. It has been very hard on those people because they were taking care of very vulnerable people and doing their best to protect them.

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