Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)

I agree with Senator Ross about the underlying trend that has begun in terms of job losses. Everybody here is genuinely concerned about the job losses in Nenagh and in Limerick. This is an ongoing issue. In parallel to the manufacturing and service industries, many people have lost sight of the fact that the agriculture sector has been losing jobs at the rate of 10% per annum. This is a huge loss. We heard of the tragedy of the factory closure in Nenagh today but the reality is we are closing down rural Ireland on an ongoing basis.

The Government is contributing to this closure by the way in which it penalises people by over-regulation and by the fact that the support mechanisms for agriculture are being clawed away by the over-enthusiastic and unconcerned Department of Agriculture and Food officials who visit farms. They are not there in an advisory capacity, rather they are there to penalise people and prevent them from going about their work and being productive. That is a serious concern. I would welcome a debate on job creation but, in addition to job losses in the agriculture sector, our output from agriculture is decreasing annually. These losses must be replaced with manufacturing jobs. I hope when we have a debate on job losses, the agriculture sector will be included.