Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In spite of the celebratory tones in the House about the Government's performance, outside the House farmers were protesting at the price of beef and other issues. This is a very worrying aspect, because the Government consistently stands by as the multiples dictate, in the interests of their own bottom line, the return of the people who reap the bounty of the land in all our interests. There have been changes to specification, with factory enforced movement criteria, where people selling cattle at the moment are being docked €150 per animal purely on the basis of the number of movements the animal has had from farm to farm. It seems that even attendance at a show counts as a movement. That is a very worrying trend because it is capitalising on the farmers who are trying very hard to make a living, particularly the farmers in the north west, where 40% of the weanling population of the country is produced. The Minister must address this because there are farm families in that part of the country earning well below the minimum wage. They are well below the celebratory tones we have heard from the Government about the relative success of some of their policies in recent times. The reality on the ground is that these people are living hand to mouth and we stand idly by and do nothing about it.

On a related issue, there is anecdotal evidence to suggest that Irish Water will insist that all farmers have meters that are not compatible with those the agency wishes to use, and will be expected to pay for these themselves, at a cost of up to €250 per water meter. That is simply unacceptable.