Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)

I am glad to be able to speak on this tonight. I welcome all the farming organisations and members who are here tonight, especially Mr. Kevin Casey, our Macra manager in Cahir and indeed now in Dungarvan, and his Macra farmers. The future of farming is at stake here. We had all the promises and everything else but it is like shifting sands now. We do not know where we are.

I come from the Golden Vale, from a very mixed farm with tillage, cattle, sheep and potatoes - you name it.

The Government has not shown good faith to the farmers with the way it has treated the sheep scheme and the cattle scheme. Successive Governments have not shown good faith to farmers for a long time. When we had the Commissioner here last week, she went to a meeting alongside the Minister for agriculture and the Minister of State, Deputy Healy-Rae. I was astonished to think we had a Judas in the camp. When it came to the Social Democrats, they went totally against the cause we have here. Ní neart go cur le chéile is a good speech from me. Stand together united. Then, lo and behold, who had a seat at the table? It was An Taisce. When the Minister brought the Commissioner to that table and the Minister of State, Deputy Healy-Rae, was there as well, what happened? The brave boyos from An Taisce insisted that the Minister and Minister of State leave the table and they had their own conversation with the Commissioner. We would not have to guess or to be a genius to find out what they said and what they told her. We have an NGO here, overpaid fat cats, who are destroying rural Ireland. They are destroying families trying to get planning permission. They are anti-farmer. We saw what happened in the court case in Kilkenny in the constituency of Deputy Cleere and the Leas-Cheann Comhairle with the Glanbia plant. It took it to the High Court with taxpayers' money. We have to get our house in order. Cut out the NGOs. Cut out those traitors who are destroying our country here and not supporting us, and then have a Government and all parties and none standing up for the farmers.

We have been talking about the fishing industry but it is too late. It will be gone. We are at D-day now and we have huge problems. We need to stand together. We do not have to have those NGOs at meetings like that last week. An Taisce - I will name it here again - would not allow the Minister or Minister of State hear what it was saying because it was talking us down. It was damaging farmers and trying to blame farmers for the pollution that was happening by Uisce Éireann, county councils and industry. We had pollution in Cork and nobody was responsible. If it was a farmer, it would be all over the papers and everything else. It is time that we were fair here to rural Ireland, to young farmers and old farmers alike. Stand with the farmers. Get rid of An Taisce and all of the other bodies that are melting us here, soaking us and destroying us in Europe and elsewhere.

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