Michael McCarthy (Labour)

People who have the right to dictate are those elected to public office. At the end of the day they are sovereign, not business people who are using the economic recession to drive down terms and conditions.

I agree with Senator Bradford's point. Reform of the sugar beet industry was debated at length in this House in 2005 to 2006 period. The then Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Deputy Mary Coughlan, assured this House that due to the prevailing situation this was the only exit and that there would be compensation. Thanks to the report of the EU Court of Auditors, we now discover that the Commission was working on old figures. That beggars belief. Some 240 jobs were involved in sugar beet production in north Cork, as Senator Bradford can attest. There were also other jobs in other parts of rural Ireland, not least in west Cork, that were dependent on the sugar beet industry. What has happened here is a gargantuan political disaster. It is ridiculous in the extreme and, on that basis, I will support the amendment to the Order of Business. I ask the Leader to invite the Tánaiste, not the current Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Deputy Brendan Smith, to the House to explain this disaster for jobs in rural Ireland.