Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I would like a debate on milk and the lifting of quotas in the dairy industry. We need to tease this out. I am glad to hear that a debate on the dairy industry is taking place in the Dáil. It is almost being painted like a new Celtic tiger, perhaps a milk tiger, but I am not so sure it is as clear as that. We need to tease out the ramifications for farmers. I know some farmers who are very concerned about their lot considering they bought quota in recent years and invested tens of thousands of euro. They want to know whether there will be compensation for them. It is being painted as being very rosy but let us have a real debate with the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

I support comments by previous speakers this morning about the lack of understanding shown to the self-employed and entrepreneurs by unsympathetic union leaders. I do not know if we fully understand the value of self-employed people who create jobs. I believe they deserve a medal and special commendation in our State. First of all, do we realise that they are actually tax collectors for the State? They must pay employers' PRSI for the joy of creating work and jobs on which people depend. They get a raw deal when they fall into unemployment themselves. In many cases, they pay unsustainable rates, development charges and rents as well as their income tax. Over 50% of our population - about 1.8 million workers - depend on the self-employed and our farmers to give them a job. Meanwhile, a union leader depends on those employers so they have people to represent. Will the Leader organise a debate on self-employment and its value in order that we get an understanding of it? If we are thinking about creating jobs, work, the value of work, creating opportunities for our young people and keeping our families in Ireland instead of telling them to look to the boat, we need to give special commendation in more than words to the self-employed. We need to come up with some really decent tax incentives and tax reform policies that will support our job creators.