Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I take on board his points regarding the failure of TLT, which was also mentioned by his cousin, Senator Michael Mullins, and Senator MacSharry. It is a very serious matter and I will endeavour to bring the Minister, Deputy Coveney, into the House to discuss it.

Senators Mullins and MacSharry also referred to farm inspections and the difficulties for farmers in this regard. It would be reasonable for some time to be given to farmers to address those problems. The livelihood of small farmers in regard to their single farm payments is at stake. It is another issue I will raise with the Minister, who was in the House only a few weeks ago to debate a myriad of issues relevant to the farming community. I am sure he will be willing to return. We had debates previously with the Minister, comprising a time allocation of one and a half hours each for fisheries and agriculture. It was felt, however, that we should have focus on specific issues, which we did on the last occasion. A debate on fisheries certainly is long overdue, as called for by Senators Ó Clochartaigh and O'Donovan. Members on all sides praised the Minister for his efforts in the negotiations on quotas last year. I hope he will accede to our request for a debate on these matters in the coming weeks.

In keeping with the agricultural theme, Senator Keane raised another matter I will bring to the attention of the Minister, namely, the fox population in Dublin. I am not aware of this problem myself, although I can confirm that there are quite a few clever foxes in this House.