Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)

I warmly welcome the Minister of State. I am delighted to see him appointed as it is not before time. I am also delighted at the Minister for Agriculture and Food's appointment. As I commented on the Order of Business last week, it is new to have a woman Minister for Agriculture and Food but women have played a major part in farming life both as owners and spouses for a long number of years and it is only right that this stage should have been reached. I pay tribute to the work of Deputy Joe Walsh over a 17-year period with a brief interruption as Minister of State at the Department.

The Bill tidies up a social revolution lasting approximately 125 years. It is not often that somebody speaks on such a Bill from the ex-landlord interest. Countries such as Zimbabwe and Namibia did not have such a mechanism and it has led to substantial trouble. The origin of the Land Commission was the Gladstonian reforms of the early 1880s and, as the Minister stated, it was more about regulation of tenancies and rents and so on to begin with, but there was a land purchase element almost from the beginning. That became more important when it was followed by land redistribution. Naturally it was not perfect but it worked well during a period when land was the primary source of wealth and income for most people in the country. It managed to regulate pretty well the inevitable social pressures which existed in that context.

Times have changed and agriculture is no longer the main source of wealth, although it is still a very important source of income in large parts of Ireland. Clearly, the same pressures no longer exist. Unfortunately, I can foresee a day when we or the European Union must almost pay people to farm the land. Perhaps we are doing so already. I worry about it. I was on holiday in west Galway where I spoke to a local about how there seemed to be fewer animals than there had been when I visited the area five or six years ago. He told me that in a few years time, I may see practically none at all. That will be the problem.

It is refreshing to have legislation which dismantles regulations and unnecessary bureaucracy. There is no point employing officials to collect moneys which just about cover their salaries. We are discussing a social revolution which is effectively over and it is now a question of tidying up. We all support what is being done. I would like to see this approach being applied in other areas of Government where there is a great deal of potential for improvement. In many areas, people are being employed on tasks which do not add much to national welfare. The subject of our discussion remains of importance to many farmers, most of whom are no longer terribly young. Clearing up this matter takes a burden off them and leaves them and their successors freer.

The archives of the Land Commission are of great importance to our social history. At one time there were estates in every area of the country and the commission is in possession of a significant wealth of historical information. While I do not know how much of the archive is available to the public or historians, the papers in question must be maintained very carefully indeed. I hope they will be open to the public in the near future.

I welcome the legislation. While I do not know if it is the last Bill of its kind in a long list, we must be coming near the end of the road.