Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I propose an amendment to the Order of Business, that No. 10 be taken before No. 1.

I concur with my colleagues' comments on the banks and the manner in which they have treated their customers. It is difficult to comprehend that they would do such a thing. The ordinary person on the street is legitimately asking who is in charge of the banks. It is time that the Minister attended the House to answer that question so that citizens can be assured that it is the Government that is running the country and not the banks. The manner in which banks have turned their backs on rural Ireland and closed services is deplorable. Nevertheless, this criticism, which is rightly directed at the banks, is in no way directed at the men and women who stand in our branches the length and breadth of this country. It is time that the Minister attended the House to address us on this subject and the future of banking.

We have discussed a matter in great detail this week, namely, Storm Ophelia and its consequences. Not that long ago, the House discussed the plight of people in Inishowen. Last year, we discussed the plight of people living along the Shannon and elsewhere in the west following the type of adverse weather conditions that we are experiencing now. The farming community is one of those worst affected by such events. This year has been a particularly wet one, with farmers unable to get their second cuts of silage done. For those who have been able to get a second cut, the quality of the silage leaves much to be desired. Many cattle are being housed much earlier this year than is normal. Given that there was the potential for the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to seek funding in the rural development plan to compensate those farmers who found themselves in financial difficulty, it is difficult to know why he did not take that opportunity. The plan, which runs from 2014 to 2020, can still have funding invested in it to provide compensation for farmers. Believe me, a serious situation is coming down the road, with farmers short of fodder to feed their cattle and the quality of that fodder leaving much to be desired.