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

First, to give the Minister of State a bit of background, this is an area of what one would call marginal land. Obviously, if there is a slide from bog, as the Minister of State knows because I know where he comes from and met him up in his own country, where there is bog, the land around it is marginal. These people are rearing families on small portions of land and in my opinion, they matter. In fairness, the Government and the Minister of State, Deputy Malcolm Noonan, set up an interagency group at the time. Many of the different State bodies were involved. Even the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine was involved. The problem as we move on, however, as Deputy Harkin outlined, is that force majeureonly lasts so long.

A commitment was given that a compensation package would be put in place to try to resolve this. I am talking about where the slide went down and destroyed areas. Rivers and different parts were involved. It is not in my area but I went down to see the devastation it caused to small farms and small bits of land. Where it is situated at the bottom of the mountain would always be the place someone might bring the ewes down for lambing, or it would only be the bit of middling ground a person has. Rather than putting animals up the mountain, a person would bring them down in wintertime or springtime for lambing or it might be the place someone would have a few cattle in those small farms. That is why this is important. A decision needs to be given and made. We cannot keep going on in limbo. Farmers need clarity, especially as they are living in uncertain times at the moment. As the man says, I am enthralled to hear the reply that is coming. I hope what is coming is positive.

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