Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I rise to support amendment No. 5 which was tabled by Deputy McNamara. I am bemused or intrigued. He mentioned the foresight that the former Minister, Deputy Bruton had. He was around the House a long time. I think he is an t'athair an Tigh. I would love to know why, when he was a Minister of State, Deputy Troy changed it. This is what intrigues me most about what is going on with this Government and past Governments and the way they are able to be manipulated. We are the first people here who do not represent our people. If it is good enough that Spain can legislate for this then why can we not do it? We have the dearest oil prices in Europe, if not further afield. Gas, electricity, you name it. We thought when we decoupled the clean energy from the so-called fossil fuel there would be a breakthrough and in many areas we get breakthroughs. Deputy Danny Healy-Rae spoke about his question to the Taoiseach at Leaders Question and going back to the price of fertiliser in 2021. There are agencies and watchdogs there and a plethora of officials who are meant to be watching all these areas and what are they doing? If a farmer makes a mistake or if the farmer has put incorrect information by accident in his application forms, he is severely penalised. It is time that others are made carry the can if they make mistakes.

It is time that this Government, and especially the Minister and the Minister of State, defend the farmers. They should challenge, as we said earlier, the beef barons, the feed lots and the way that has diminished the small family farms and the way the sector has gone into such big, powerful entities. Now we have it again, given what is going on with the fertiliser. It is shocking.

I want to salute the suppliers of the world, the likes of Pat Myers in south Tipperary and east Cork and many others. Indeed, when farmers struggle with bad springs and shortages of fodder, these small suppliers have the ethos that the co-ops were set up to have. The South Tipperary Farmers' Co-operative became Avonmore, then they became Glanbia, and God knows what it is now - Tirlán - or whatever it is. They have gone off and have become multi-billion euro industries and they have forgotten their roots and where they came from. They were of the people, for the people and to help the people. We had great leaders in farming, such as T.J. Maher and Joe Rea, who was a friend of mine. There are many people like that in other areas as well.

The farming organisations marched to Dublin, like Macra na Feirme did today. What is wrong? Where is the inertia in this Government and the last number of Governments to serve the people they were elected to serve? These are our ordinary citizens. We should try to get the best price for them. In this case, we should try to get the best price for the farmers so they can get reasonably priced fertilisers so they do not have to add on to the price.

We all know what happens when the cost of oil is put up, which the Government voted for here last week. They voted to put excise duty on fuel prices again. It will be up to 23 cent per litre by October. That will add to more inflation. A kindergarten pupil in school would know that. The Government parties vote blindly for it. The Taoiseach said yesterday when he was answering questions that he expected prices to come down further. Yet, a week before, all his Deputies voted to put it up. I do not know what this means. They are playing mind games with people.

We need to assert. We need to have Governments, Departments and the likes of Bord Bia and the other agencies to serve the people they are set up to serve. It is no good to have a fine, fancy office in a regulator that has a brass plate on the wall outside, where there is fancy furniture and a nice title, if they are toothless, useless and fruitless. That is what they are. They are not set up to tackle. It is a runaway train as regards the big supermarkets and what used to be ordinary farmers' co-operatives. Now, they are multi-million euro industries. What they do in other parts of the world is more important and there is no one looking after the basic family farm and ordinary farmers. It is not happening.

Governments here should be looking after our people. Why is fertiliser is cheaper in Northern Ireland and in other EU countries? Why is fuel cheaper? Why is electricity cheaper? Why is gas cheaper? Why are we the dearest in the class for everything? Why is that? Have we lost our will to live, or are we taking our instructions from other powers that are not elected to this House at all?

Deputy Healy-Rae mentioned the citizens' assembly and I will not even go there. On any kind of issue that arises now, the Government wants to cloak and confuse and subjugate, its sets up a citizens' assembly. I am surprised there was not one called today for another topic we were talking about. Everything is put into a citizens' assembly. They hand-pick people and there is no proper representation by the sector we are talking about. Is it any wonder that Macra na Feirme members came today with such dignity, respect and an honest-to-goodness plea? There was not a bad word among them, or any kind of traffic blockades or anything else. They co-operated with An Garda Síochána. They came with a mantra; it is to be allowed to live in rural Ireland, to be allowed to have a fair living, to be allowed to build houses and to be allowed to have self-determination within the laws of the land. They should not be forced out of existence, squeezed out of business and exterminated. They input our foodstuffs from all over the world. What about the carbon footprint there? The thing is, it is an upside-down world that we are dealing with. They are upside-down countries when we see what we are doing, importing those kinds of foods.

Every year, as Deputy McNamara said earlier, we see more and more horticulture farmers grow potatoes, carrots, parsnips and everything else being forced out of business. When they all are gone, there will be the low-cost sellers. I will not name them, but we know who they are. They will charge what they like on imported food that is sometimes as dry as bloody old ram's horn that was cut off a year ago and thrown in the bottom of a ditch. You could not eat it. It is unhealthy. What about the carbon emissions when it was transported to Ireland? The Government must stand up, serve the people they are elected to serve and stop serving the big moguls.

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