Paraic Brady (Fine Gael)

I wish to set the record straight regarding rural pursuits and fox hunting. I have watched a number of debates over the last number of weeks and I have listened to media reports of foxes in fields being torn apart. We have listened to all this negativity in the media regarding fox hunting, which is described as a sport.It is not a sport and it is not done as a sport. The media has portrayed it as a sport. It is not just for the gentry. I hunt. I shoot. I am not gentry. I am a farmer. Foxes can get out of control and there is no predator for foxes other than humans and the odd car going down the road. When foxes are out of control in this country and the numbers are high, we see the loss of lambs, fowl and livestock. When you have loss of fowl, lambs and livestock, you have loss of profits. Farmers are indebted to our gun clubs that control vermin, which includes foxes. They are not pets. They are vermin. They hunt for their young. People say it is a part of nature. It is, of course, but nature is unbalanced and the number of foxes is out of control. We will see it in this urban area shortly as fox numbers increase in the urban area of Dublin. Only then, when perhaps a child is taken out of a pram or a child is injured, will people understand what this is. This is not a sport. This is farmers protecting their livelihoods and what is theirs. We are not gentry and I do not like to be portrayed as gentry. It is not done as a sport. It is done to control a predator that affects our living. That is the message that needs to be sold. I do not like the portrayal of the people of the country as gentry. That is far from what we are.