Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)

I wish the Deputy and the Leas-Cheann Comhairle the best of luck in the hurling at the weekend. As a proud Kildare man, we look forward to competing for the Liam MacCarthy with both teams next year, after our win in the Joe McDonagh Cup.

The Deputy can stand up here and talk sentiment, mention the word "conglomerates" a number of times and so on, but the sentiment he displays is not borne out by the facts. The tabular breakdown, which I will provide to him afterwards, shows that, per county, the average per beneficiary works out at €15,585. In Tipperary, the average per beneficiary is €16,851, so there is not the big disparity he talks about. His next-door neighbour of Waterford is at €18,209 to 2,273 beneficiaries. That is the average per beneficiary. Leitrim is at €15,005. The Deputy spoke about the Golden Vale and different counties and farming models west of the Shannon. If one were to take the sentiment of what he said, there would be a big disparity between what is paid to farmers, but that is not borne out by the facts.

See this speech in context