Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am coming back to that. I mentioned "cranks" and "crackpots" because it is a fact and I want to call them out.

Coming back to the Bill before us tonight, the one worry I have is when it comes to the zoning of lands. When we see what has happened to the farmers recently - I was glad at the very beginning and in the first instance on behalf of people in Killorglin, outside of Killarney town and in other areas outside of Kenmare where they were going to be affected by taxation that was being unfairly put on them - it was right to call that out at that time. However, what is being put in place at present still does not go far enough because it is putting the onus of responsibility on farmers to dezone their lands at a cost to themselves. All they want to do is continue their farming practices and get on with their lives, but all of a sudden they are being painted with the brush as if they are developers, which they are not. The only thing they are looking to do is to make a living out of the farm that was passed on to them.

I will conclude with my major point in this regard. Where is the good news in this legislation for the people in Kerry and the people all along the western seaboard? It is not there, because it was not put in there. The Minister did not want it to be there because it is a green paper, driven by a green agenda. The green tail has been wagging this dog since 2020. I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for her indulgence.

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