Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I hope we will be here tomorrow to have the opportunity to pay tribute to Mr. Martin Groves and all of the Seanad team and to thank them for their work. It is appropriate that this House acknowledges the passing of David Davin-Power. He was an outstanding, informed, balanced and insightful journalist whose funeral is taking place this afternoon. It is appropriate to mark his passing.

I welcome the news today confirming Mr. Michael McGrath as the next European Commissioner for Justice. He is handling a very important portfolio regarding the rule of law and dealing with questions such as online safety and foreign interference in elections. There are a lot of big challenges, but there is no better individual to be able to face them.

I want to focus on the new Commissioner for Agriculture and Food, Christophe Hansen, who was approved by the European Parliament. He gave a very spirited presentation before the Parliament, where he talked about - and these are important things - fair pricing for farmers and the question of generational renewal in farming, which is really important and something that Macra na Feirme has been raising regularly.One of the issues he highlighted related to the mental health challenges faced by those in farming and in rural communities. He spoke movingly about his brother who took over the family farm and about the stresses his brother faced, which his family believe ultimately contributed to an accident that took his life last year. Mr. Hansen spoke about the importance of all of us being aware of our mental health but particularly among farming and rural communities. Farming is often a lonely career. I know a lot of good work is done by farm organisations and others such as See Change, and in my area, people such as Patrick Hipwell, George Graham and Emily Barker have been highlighting this concern about positive mental health specifically among the farming community. Nevertheless, it is something we need to continue to stress and raise and I welcome the fact the new European Commissioner has listed it as a priority.