John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)

I also thank Senator Browne for giving me the opportunity to speak on this matter. I wish to leave the Minister of State in no doubt as to the depth of feeling in the country as to where the €143 million worth of funding should be allocated. I am firmly of the view that Greencore should not get one cent of that money. Following the privatisation of Irish Sugar, that company now finds itself in the position of owning several very valuable sites in various parts of the country, which is more than adequate compensation. Furthermore, it has played a pretty poor role in the downfall of the sugar beet industry and I would hate to think that it would receive any compensation from this fund.

I agree with Senator Bradford that the producers and contractors should get all, or at least the vast bulk of, the €143 million restructuring fund. It is clear that the contractors and some farmers have invested thousands of euro in machinery that will now lie idle because there is no longer a use for it. For farmers, who are employed or involved in producing the product, they are now faced with the headache of trying to find an alternative product to produce.

In the next ten days or so the Department will make a decision, which will be a political one. The Minister for Agriculture and Food will have the final say as to where this funding will go, and she seemed to give positive soundings lately. Senator Browne posed a number of interesting questions concerning what criteria will be used. That is a crucial issue.

Another important issue is the number of submissions received. I wholeheartedly support the submission by the producers and the contractors. They, through no fault of their own, have suffered a great loss and they, not Greencore, should benefit from the restructuring fund.