Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail)

I appreciate exactly where the Minister is coming from because he is covering a very wide range of farming activities and malpractices. While I take on board the Minister's explanation, the Minister "may" pay compensation for animals removed under the disease programmes whereas the current Diseases of Animals Act states the Minister "shall" pay compensation, not "may". That is where the difficulty lies. The Diseases of Animals Act covers what the Minister has outlined would possibly be covered in any event.

I agree with the Minister that any farmer or anyone else should not receive compensation if, due to their negligence and fault, their animals fall into a state of ill health or die - that is only right and fair. However, we are talking about the difficulty coming down the road where the Department in the future may decide it is not going to pay the compensation under some future Minister and that it is up to the insurance companies to pay it. We would then be into a real game of brinkmanship with insurance companies and we know the way they are treating people at present. I know of cases in my constituency where people have genuine claims but the companies are not paying out on them. Insurance assessors are losing their jobs throughout the country at a drastic rate because the insurance companies have closed shop and stopped paying out compensation claims. I would be very fearful that if there were genuine claims from farmers, the insurance companies would find a way of not paying compensation.

Perhaps what is needed is a very specific addition to the disease compensation terms to include in this Bill all of the diseases covered under the Diseases of Animals Act that are currently covered by the term "the Minister shall pay" to ensure the Minister of the day is in a position to pay. What will happen, in my view, having spoken to people in Macra na Feirme and others, is that younger farmers in particular may be less optimistic and more cautious. They may decide not to invest because they are fearful that, if there is an outbreak on a farm, this could potentially bankrupt them if they are left hoping for an insurance claim. I hope the Minister can reflect on this issue and reconsider it for Report Stage.