Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the Minister of State and thank him for his contribution this evening. We have had hours on this debate and building trust has been a big issue for us. I acknowledge the contribution made by my learned colleague from Galway, Senator Crowe, about the lack of communication. That is a significant issue we have had here.

When we have met the farmers, the Minister gave us the impression there would be engagement. The level of engagement has not been satisfactory and because of that, we are here for our third session. We will probably be here until 10 p.m. That is an unfortunate limit because of the lack of communication.

I will go back to my core point about a precedent. The Minister of State mentioned terminology. The precedent would have been five years for a compensation package but there has never been a precedent of us closing an industry. That is key. This is the first time we have stepped up and said Government policy dictates that the industry is gone.

We do not know what will be next. My major fear is we do not know what industry will be rolled out next, for whatever view, and will be gone. We need to look at where the precedent goes. Will this be a stick that will come back to beat us? The Department's report stated that there was a cycle in this industry. We are debating what that cycle is. That is a very fair debate. We take the view that the Department says it is five years. We say it is ten years. The Department will not include 2021. Why not? It was one of the best years. The years 2016 to 2020 are included but not 2021. An awful lot of issues need to be looked at.

Lack of trust has become a considerable issue. I acknowledge the Minister of State's contribution and it is very important that we have that kind of contribution but that trust needs to be built from tonight forward. Three family farms are effectively closed because of what we have decided to do. We need to make sure that we support them and their communities in order that they can move on towards a just transition. That kind of approach is required.