Noel Coonan (Fine Gael)

The facts are there to see. The sugar factory has closed. The closure of the Carlow plant directly led to the demise of the Mallow plant. During the closure of the Carlow factory, the Minister for Agriculture and Food claimed it would not affect its Mallow counterpart. How wrong she was. Where is the Mallow sugar plant now? Is that what we call commitment and leadership?

The €145 million compensation package is not adequate for the destruction of the entire sugar industry. It is now emerging from media reports that a much larger package was on offer had the Minister not chosen to fight to keep production.