John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister has ignored everything and he has gone with the line from his Department, a line that has caused nothing but trouble for Dan Brennan. The Irish Farmers' Association and the people of Kilkenny are looking on at this and they believe there was something wrong. If the Minister wants new evidence, he should look at the date the factory closed and at what happened on Dan Brennan's farm then. The Minister is wrong to take that line from the Department, because it is the Department itself that is wrong and it is ignoring what happened. I ask the Minister to go back and read the transcripts of the meeting chaired by Deputy Cahill. The Minister will see clearly the passion of the late Padraig Walshe, for example, who insisted there was something wrong. There is not enough time to deal with this a Cheann Comhairle. I am sorry for that and I appreciate the latitude the Ceann Comhairle has given us.

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