She objects, and then comes in here giving out about there being no houses.

I am glad of the opportunity to contribute. I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this good and sensible motion. I congratulate the Minister of State opposite on making his comeback to the ranks of junior Ministers. On the morning on which we were wondering who the new junior Minister would be, I asked him if he was in line and what was happening. I wish him the best.

As I said, this is an important issue, particularly in a place such as Kerry that has mountains, including MacGillycuddy's Reeks and Mangerton mountain. We have a topography that no other county has, or, at least, that not many other counties have. We have the Atlantic Ocean pounding on three or four sides. We have three peninsulas, namely the Iveragh, Beara and Dingle peninsulas. We have many miles of coastline. It is grand and lovely in the summertime. We appreciate the Coast Guard all around our coasts. We have …

I am glad to get time to raise this very important matter, the spread of tuberculosis and the TB eradication scheme, which is clearly not working. We have more outbreaks of TB now after 46 or 47 years of testing. There are so many farmers going down in east Kerry, mid-Kerry and south Kerry. Even in Kilgarvan, many farmers have gone down, including our neighbour, Mikey Joe Murphy, who is very local to us and does everything right. He has never bought in any cows or animals and gives and does all he can to maintain a…

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. It is very clear that we and the Department are not doing enough. If we keep going the way we have gone for the past 46 years and we do not change something, it will be the same story for whoever is here in 50 years' time. There is no point in the world going around vaccinating badgers. We do not know whether they had TB, whether they were infected with it already or what the story is. The fact is they need to be culled. I was getting to the point that the big infestatio…

That is devastating for farmers. They cannot understand it. We rarely hear about an inconclusive animal. The numbers are getting bigger.

Before it was one, two or three but now if a fella has 60 cows, 26 go down. I apologise to the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach.

There was another cow called Haughey.

I too wish to support the motion and I welcome the people in the Gallery here. When they were doing good they were ostracised and vilified when they were actually working in the public interest. I regret that very much. We have been told, very eloquently, how some of these people lost their homes, lost their families and suffered an awful lot of mental hardship. I also want to welcome my group in the Gallery. They are from Gneeveguilla and Rathmore. We hope they enjoy the Dáil here today. I will not go into individ…

Have you any regard for the lambs that the foxes kill?

Has she any regard for the lambs that the foxes-----

I respectfully ask the Taoiseach whether he or the Government can do anything about the excessive cost of diesel, fuel and petrol at the pumps, and the price of kerosene for people in their homes. We see now that the price per litre of diesel has gone over €1.80 and it is much around the same for petrol. The price of diesel has actually gone higher than petrol at many pumps. The make-up of the tax in the price is €1.15 and it is €1.05 for diesel. Carbon tax accounts for 16.35 cent of the price of petrol and 18.74 c…

It is driving up inflation, the cost of living and everything else.

Please answer. Can the Taoiseach do anything about it?

Prices have gone up since.

Will the Deputies sit down?

I am only starting. I am glad to get the opportunity to talk here and support the Government's announcement of this money for the greyhound industry and the horse racing industry. We know what they mean to our county of Kerry. People with greyhounds are out in the morning, late in the evening, walking and exercising the dogs and exercising themselves, and they are a vital part of our community. We hear the Opposition, which was playing to the gallery last Wednesday night about all they would do for the farmers. The…

-----and where they spend fortunes to do themselves up and add glamour to our events. We appreciate that very much. We have local ladies from Kilgarvan who actually won the best dressed lady in Listowel, including Joanne Murphy. We appreciate all of this because it means so much to rural Ireland. As for the people talking against it, I am sorry that they do not understand it. They should come down and see what is going on there, and walk the roads with the people who are walking the dogs because they are doing trem…

I am glad to get the opportunity to talk in this very important debate. Ireland, for its size, has done more for asylum seekers and refugees than any other country in Europe. That is a fact. We have to realise it. We are a small country that spent €1.2 billion last year on refugees. It is fine and we are glad to have done that, but how long can this continue? We have a lot of our own people who have competing demands for houses, health, social welfare and all the different things. We do not have the leprechaun's pu…

I have raised it a couple of times in the past couple of weeks. How do we think as a Government we can keep paying €1.2 billion for asylum seekers or refugees or whatever they are in this country? We are under savage pressure for services in every regard. I am asking that question. How long can the country stand up to this? There are taxpayers out in the morning and late at night working and trying to survive and they are taxed to the hilt. That is the question I am asking. I hope someone will address it for me. It…