Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister made several references to what has been done for farming families but I would like to point out that while some measures are welcome, there are serious difficulties. The carbon tax is crippling every sector, including farmers. He has left that one out. Agri-contractors cannot survive, given the level of tax being imposed on them. This, of course, is being passed on to farmers.

The beef exceptional aid measure, BEAM, scheme has been an absolute disaster. I would ask for that to be revised and improved. The Minister mentioned the budget in October, the forthcoming budget, and so forth. However, people cannot wait until October. People are really struggling. Every day I get calls to my office from elderly people, from working families, from businesses, from farmers and from hauliers across Laois and Offaly. The Minister is doing nothing for those people. Those people are struggling while Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil continue to support the Green Party in its vanity project. That is what it is.

The Government is punishing the citizens who voted for it. That is what is happening. It is a matter for the Government whether it wants to realise that but it is the harsh reality. People in rural Ireland do not have the luxury of transport outside their door every morning so they have to fill their cars with petrol or diesel to get to work. These are the people who are being punished. I constantly find myself, as a rural Deputy in Laois-Offaly, standing up here trying to protect the jobs that we have. I should be speaking about job creation but we have a disaster at the moment because of the just transition and what the Government has done. Again, with its green ideology, it has thrown the midlands under the green bus. It needs to see the chaos it is causing. This just transition is on top of the struggles people already have with the price hikes in electricity and heating.

With the just transition, or unjust transition, there have been job losses. Now jobs are under pressure in forestry and also in haulage. The hauliers are under a lot of pressure. I do not know what exactly is happening in forestry but I would be very grateful if the Minister could try to sort out the mess. Horticulture is an absolute disaster. The Green Party Minister of State ignored recommendations from a working group. That is absolutely outrageous. The Minister can paint this any way he likes but the harsh reality is that tens of thousands of jobs are at stake.

The Government is punishing people unnecessarily, particularly with the carbon tax. The Rural Independent Group, of which Deputy Mattie McGrath is the leader, is the only group which has been consistent on the carbon tax. In fact, we were the only political group to oppose the carbon tax from day one. People need to know that and should not be fooled by what is happening in here. This House is an echo chamber at times. The Minister needs to listen to the voice of the people. People cannot continue like this. The facts are there. I am sure the Society of St. Vincent de Paul has been in touch with the Government. It has had an unprecedented number of calls to its service this year. I have seen applications for the fuel allowance refused. People who should be entitled to the allowance are not entitled to it because the Government has not gone far enough. Other countries have brought in measures to help people. I stress again that people cannot wait until October.

Given the terrible negative impact of the carbon tax on agriculture, I appeal to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to try to sort out this mess because it is crippling agri-contractors and farming families. It appears as though the Green Party wants to force farmers off the land altogether. If the Minister is part and parcel of that, he is not standing up for farmers but punishing them. People in general are being punished. We have seen a very blunt transition that is not fair. There are no alternative jobs. People are struggling to heat their homes and pay for basics.

I would appreciate it if the Minister would do me the courtesy of listening to the message I have from my constituents in Laois-Offaly. I refuse to continue until the Minister shows me the courtesy of giving me his attention for the few minutes I have left. I have always been reasonable. I was interrupted and disrupted. I am sorry-----

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