Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)

I thank the Minister of State and for being here this late at night. He has thrown out a lot of figures there. My head is not like a computer but I can say to him he is going back to figures for what has happened up to now but I am worried about here on because as I told him, much land is being bought up and let go idle.

Much land is being planted with solar panels.

I am glad the Minister of State mentioned coastal communities and fishing. Our fishers are almost gone. They were paid to decommission. I have mentioned pair trawling in Kenmare Bay previously in here but nothing has been done about it and nothing will be done. It has been completely cleaned out. I think of times past going back along Tahilla, looking into the bay at Kenmare and seeing the likes of Frankie Jim, Joe Jim, Dónal O'Shea and all those fellows, and the O'Briens and others back along by Sneem, out in the bay fishing day after day. They are gone. I did not get any mackerel in the past three years, whereas the village used to be full of them previously. Now they are not to be had at all out of Kenmare Bay.

There are too many schemes now promoting less production. Where there is protected urea, nothing will be grown. A lot of the fertiliser we buy now, whatever is taken out of it, does not grow what it used to grow.

The other point I must mention is that multinational supermarket companies have too much power. If they decide not to sell us this item or the other, we cannot challenge them because all the small shops are gone. The worst thing they are doing is insisting the suppliers, who are the farmers, must allow them three months' credit. I ask that the Minister of State look into that to see how it is fair. Farmers are bankrolling many of the supermarket companies and they have to wait to be paid. The farmers have to pay for everything they get. They cannot ask their supplier to wait for three months. What these companies are doing is not fair on our producers.

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