Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I would be happy if the Leader could explain to me how our citizens are going to benefit from this seat the Government is chasing on the United Nations Security Council. As of September this year, we had spent €650,000, €100,000 of which was spent on a video using Bono to sell the notion of Ireland having a seat on the Security Council. We recently spent another €144,000 sending Ministers to the US to further this cause. This is nothing but a vanity project. It serves no citizen in this country in any way. It does nothing for hard-pressed citizens and it is time it stopped. It is time that we stepped back and started to use the offices of Ministers to do the jobs they are empowered to do.

This morning we were unable to get into Leinster House without using ID cards and at the top of the street we see tractors and farmers taken from their farms. The level of poverty there is unbelievable. Somebody remarked that there could not be that much poverty in light of the size of the tractors but the truth of the matter is that the banks own them. These men and women are in dire straits. The Leader will be aware that there is a market of 80 million people waiting to buy Irish lamb and beef in Iran. The only impediment to opening up that market is our lack of an embassy in Tehran. Why do we not have an embassy there? Iran has its problems. Indeed, the Iranian ambassador to Ireland will admit there are problems in his country but there is a market there for Irish beef. My colleagues were talking earlier about the price of Irish beef being down to €3.30 a kilo. Good God tonight, are we going to drive our farmers out of business? It is simply not good enough. On the one hand, we are off chasing vanity projects while, on the other, we are not looking after our farmers, who are the heart and soul of this country. I want somebody to explain to the House what good this goddamn vanity project we are chasing will do.How will this project benefit any citizens on this island whether they are homeless, farmers or lying on trolleys? It has helped nobody.