Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Now that it is not, I echo the call of Mr. Kivlehan today. Surely that deceased woman, who did not have the benefit of the high profile case we had for Savita Halappanavar, is entitled to an inquest. I ask Senator Cummins to use the good offices of the Leader of Seanad Éireann to impress upon the Minister the need to have that inquest carried out in memory of this woman.

Finally, I ask that we would also debate the issue of co-funding in the House. While I appreciate the Minister was in the House recently, I believe he must come back in the course of the next week. We gather there will not be a fully funded Pillar 2 budget in this country under the Common Agricultural Policy because the Minister negotiated the amount of co-funding eligible back to 25%. This has huge implications for the north west, which does not have the benefit of the main body of the lobby of the IFA throughout the country, and it could cost us up to €170 million a year in the context of the disadvantaged areas payment and the agri-environment options scheme, AEOS. This is a very serious concern, and it is one I believe the leadership of the IFA is ignoring. It is being accused, in effect, by its own membership in the north west of thinking more about its Fine Gael candidacy for the European Parliament than about the representation of small farmers in the north west of the country.