Ollie Crowe (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Heydon, for his contribution and welcome him to the House. I have spoken in the Chamber a number of times and my contributions are well known. All anybody is looking for is fairness - across the House. The reality is there is not fairness and the issues have been raised by my colleagues.

I thank the Minister of State with regard to the redundancy issue but I ask for more clarification. I fail to understand the compensation because there are highs and lows in businesses. Compensation based on a ten-year period would give a fairer reflection. There is evidence to back that up. I spoke to the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, on a couple of occasions he was here with regard to the lines of communication. They have been lacking, to be honest. There is no point in saying anything different.

I have been in business for a while. There is a 27-page report. The cost is six figures in excess of €100,000. However, no representative of Grant Thornton has stepped on any of the farms. I do not get that. I fail to understand it. It does not give a fair reflection of what is on the ground. As Senator Daly outlined in his contribution, significant investment has been made in specs and investment in the individual farms. That has not been recognised.

There is an ongoing issue across the House. The Minister will be well aware, from his own constituency, of the example I will give. Some 40 families are affected. A local school, as a result of the closure of these farms, will lose a teacher. They are the impacts on rural Ireland. As an Oireachtas Member from west Galway, I am fairly familiar with the impact that the loss of a teacher has on a rural school. I welcome the Minister of State's earlier comments but I ask for clarity on a couple of issues. I would appreciate it.