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

I will try to be brief. There is something that I cannot understand. I will stand corrected, but I believe that more than 200 amendments had been tabled to the Bill in the Dáil and that none of them was accepted. The Government voted for this and was jumping for joy that it had passed the Dáil. Even in my constituency, the Government was telling people that it was a fabulous Bill. We now have amendments, though. Is there a problem within the Government parties already? Why were they jumping for joy and claiming that this was a great Bill when it obviously is not, given that amendments must be proposed?

There has been a great deal of talk about agriculture. Deputy Bríd Smith of People Before Profit and Deputy Whitmore of the Social Democrats said that they were, through their amendments, trying to insert something stronger in terms of our carbon emissions. It is simply an attack on agriculture. What is wrong? The farmers of this country in the beef, dairy and every other sector are bending over backwards trying to do their best where farming is concerned, but they are being attacked continuously. I am concerned about parties that do not understand agriculture. I am a big believer in it being the case that, if someone does not wear a pair of wellingtons, he or she should not talk about farming. That is my attitude. Maybe it is a rough one.

Farming has moved beyond milking a cow in the middle of the field on a stool. It has progressed, and we need to sit up and understand that. People Before Profit criticised the fishing industry a couple of weeks ago. Fishing has gone beyond casting a line from a rod on the side of a rock. Industries grow, and we need to protect them and work with them to ensure that happens. Members should please remember that. We cannot attack these sectors continuously.

Green experts - they might call themselves "advisory for climate action" or whatever, but they are green experts - have said that, to meet the targets the Government has set, there would have to be a 51% cull in cattle by 2030. I have been told that I am being outlandish and away with the fairies, but this is what is happening in places like New Zealand. Apparently, there will be a 15% cull in cattle there. I hear many Government Deputies saying that there is no issue and that the targets will not lead to a cull in cattle. There are politicians who do not farm and do not understand farming but think they do, yet they live in the city, so their belief is difficult to understand. I would not dare come up and dictate to people how the city works. As someone who is proud to be a farmer, I will talk about how rural Ireland works. I understand my neighbours, who are efficient and environmentally top-class farmers. They mean well, but they are working under severe stress.

Deputy Danny Healy-Rae mentioned the double-decker buses in Dublin. He was right. They just stream up streets one after another. We have no public transport in rural Ireland, and that situation has not improved one bit since the Green Party went into government. Despite all its promises to rural Ireland, not one extra bus has been added to the timetables for communities in my area. I am meeting businesses that are in dire trouble because of the Government's carbon tax. In west Cork, diesel has gone from €1.17 to €1.45 per litre in less than 12 months. Businesses are ringing me saying that they will let staff go because they cannot afford to continue, but Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are patting themselves on the back. The price of diesel will increase again in another few months' time. We are facing difficult times.

It is astonishing that no amendment could be taken previously and we were told that this was a super Bill only to find out now that it is not, given that amendments are being tabled for whatever reason. I have suspicions on why that might be.

I will finish on this point, as others wish to speak. It is nice to see Ministers out there talking to people, but they need to work with them because the forestry and nursery sectors are on their knees. How they have been treated is outrageous. The Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, needs to speak to the Minister of State, Senator Hackett, immediately - the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue is also present - about turning this around. It can be done. How people's livelihoods are being destroyed is shameful. They have been protesting here all week.

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