Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I echo what others have said when the Minister of State referred to the three-year method for calculating compensation. With regard to our amendments that were ruled out of order, I am aware that a ten-year cycle is taken in other jurisdictions. As others have said, it appears that the years selected on which to base the compensation seem to be the loss-making years. Will the Minister of State elaborate on where the five years came from? Why are we not looking at how this was done in other jurisdictions when it came to closing down this industry and using the ten-year method?

The fact that the Department was reluctant to visit any of the farms prior to this legislation is concerning. My understanding is that, initially, the Department suggested using Google Maps to calculate the costs of the demolition. Will the Minister confirm that is correct? Will he confirm that only one of the three farms have been visited by the Department? That is only on the back of the persistence of the farmers in begging and pleading with the Department to come out to look at the farms before passing this legislation and the calculation around the demolition.

One of our amendments called for an environmental impact assessment because we do not know whether there is asbestos on site. There are concerns among the farmers that there would be low-balling in terms of the compensation for the demolition. Will the Minister outline why the five years happens to correspond with the five loss-making years? If one's compensation is based on that and one is making a loss, one's compensation will not amount to very much. Is it true that the Department initially suggested using Google Maps to calculate the demolition costs? Three farms is all we are talking about. Why could the Department not visit all three to get a proper gauge of the demolition costs?