Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I second the amendment to the Order of Business by Senator John Crown. I agree wholeheartedly with him. If we are to have an investigation into these matters it is vital that it should be credible, as Senator Crown has rightly pointed out. That is not to impugn the expertise or contribution of these fine medical professionals. There is no doubt that they could probably play a vital role as expert witnesses in any investigation, but it is wholly inappropriate to have an investigative body that includes those who are effectively members of the same team. It is absolutely not credible and it is important in the interests of everyone concerned that it would include people who are absolutely not connected in any way to this institution.

I call for a debate on agriculture to be arranged in the not too distant future. I realise there have been debates in the past about Common Agricultural Policy reform and so on but it is vital to have another. Despite the best intentions of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney, to represent all farming interests, some smaller farmers, especially those along the western seaboard and in the north west of the country, are not being adequately catered for. There are proposals to change how commonage is catered for. This is completely discriminatory in terms of how the Government envisages taking it forward.

There are other issues of concern in terms of a prioritising of those with larger holdings, who have scale and fertility in the context of what they can produce, rather than those with smaller holdings throughout the country. Given the world food crisis and the role that agriculture can play in our economic recovery, we must do our best to keep all of those involved in agriculture on the land to allow them to make the best contribution they can.