Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The Minister's refusal to answer a straight question with a straight answer speaks volumes. The Minister did inadvertently answer it by saying that he will continue with the same head in the sand approach. I do not particularly want to use up my time replying to it, but the Minister referred to my pointing the finger at farmers when I explicitly said in my opening that no farmer went out with this intention and that it was the direct result of the Minister's policy. This was really reminiscent of what the Minister said when he started this policy- as I had quoted - that he would not allow a situation where we would be compromised by emissions. The Minister is the one who took part in starting this false narrative that somehow the environment and farmers are working against each other, and that when I say we need to make farming more sustainable I am somehow pointing the finger at farmers. This is even though I clearly stated that it really was not the farmers' fault and was a direct consequence of policies. We could be moving towards a situation where subsidies incentivise farmers to practise more sustainable types of farming. It is not all about livestock units to the hectare. The Minister is not talking about solutions. The Minister is talking about-----

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