Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will raise two issues today. The first refers back to yesterday's Order of Business and the fur farming Bill. All of us want to see an end to fur farms as soon as possible. It would be helpful, now that we have a break for the next week or two, if the Minister would engage directly with the affected farmers and workers. I still have a real concern, which I know is a cross-party one, to ensure that these workers are properly looked after. The implication I see, having reread the Minister's speech from last week, is that this is something he will look at after the Bill is passed. I am worried about that. At that point, these workers will have no leverage. It behoves the Minister to take the time to meet these people directly. If the correct assurances are given, we can all be happy and move on as quickly as possible but we need to see those assurances.

There is some good news from both Limerick and the North. Limerick City and County Council has invited in the Centre for Local Economic Strategies to talk about community wealth building. At the same time, the Minister for Communities in the North, my colleague, Deirdre Hargey MLA, has set up an advisory panel on community wealth building. In essence, this is an entirely new way of directing public spending to ensure it tackles inequality and builds wealth within our communities. It is a really innovative strategy that has been in practice across a number of districts in Britain and America. It sees local wealth being generated across our communities by looking at how the State spends money and then spending it differently to ensure good employment practices are taken into account along with the development of co-operative ownership. It is a radical new way of doing local economics. I commend my colleague, Councillor Sharon Benson in Limerick, who has won the agreement of all councillors to have a talk about this and see how we can develop it as a strategy. I commend my colleague in the North, the Minister for Communities, Deirdre Hargey. I invite all parties to look at community wealth building. It is a new way of doing economics to ensure people come before profit.