Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

Departmental officials attended a meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture and Food recently and they agreed this should not happen. It is grossly unfair to the farming community and such inspections would not take place in any other walk of life. Recently a farmer attended a hospital in Dublin for an appointment, for which he had to wait more than 12 months, and while he was in the waiting room, he received a telephone call from an inspector who said he would be at his farm within half an hour. Is that good enough?

The Minister made little comment on the sheep sector. Has she heard of a farmer called Tom Parlon? He brought ewes into the office occupied by the Minister a number of years ago. However, he recently decided to get out of the sheep business.