Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Okay, that is fine. I will discuss it later on.

Most Senators would have been circulated with the concerns of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association, ICSA, about the recent comments by the German Vice-Chancellor indicating that in his opinion there would have to be cutbacks to the Common Agricultural Policy, following the Brexit vote. We need to see a strong response from the Government. The Taoiseach needs to rebuff these comments and reassure the farming community. Accordingly, will the Leader consider amending tomorrow’s statements on farm safety with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to widen the debate to deal with the concerns of the farming community following these comments? We cannot just dismiss these because it is the German Vice-Chancellor and not some minor political representative.

I want to record my party’s support for other Members on councillors’ pay and conditions. We need to address this issue as they are not paid enough nor do they have the entitlements they deserve for the work they put in. They do not get the respect at national level anyway for the work they put in. This needs to be addressed and we support whatever efforts are being made to do this.