I met representatives of the retired employees of An Post last week. I want to bring to the attention of the House the Postal and Telecommunications Services Act 1983, which wound up the old Department of Posts and Telegraphs. I will read from section 46 of that Act. Subsection (4) states: Every scheme under this section shall provide for not less favourable conditions in respect of persons who, immediately before the vesting day, were members of the staff of the Department of Posts and Telegraphs than those to whi…

I am delighted that the Bill has reached this point. I compliment the Minister on guiding it through the various Stages up to now, both in the House and at the agriculture committee. Farmers have waited a long time for this Bill. The fact that there will be far more representation on the appeals board will bring confidence that people will get a fair hearing. Some farmers can feel very aggrieved and can feel very hard done by following an inspection. Provision is made for oral appeals. The oral appeal hearings, in …

I want to talk about the critical shortage of gardaí in Tipperary. Towns and villages such as Roscrea, Templemore, Newport and Borrisokane are extremely short of gardaí. The fact that we do not have our own Garda division anymore is a complicating factor. Unfortunately, there has been a very significant rise in burglaries lately in our county. I was informed by a senior garda in Tipperary that if senior gardaí want to avail of overtime for their workforce, they now have to get permission from Dublin. This just cann…

A deer management group was set up over 12 months ago. Everyone at this stage agrees a deer cull is absolutely essential. There are three main reasons for it, namely, there is a welfare issue as the natural habitats of the deer are not able to feed them anymore due to the very large numbers of deer; there is a serious road safety issue in that the number of car crashes in rural areas because of deer is increasing by the day; and there is a risk to the health of the bovine herd due to the spread of bovine tuberculos…

I am delighted to see this Bill reach Second Stage as Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine. We carried out pre-legislative scrutiny on this Bill and presented a report to the Minister. I am glad to say that the Minister has taken on board a number of the recommendations that were made by the committee. Usually at committee, there is divisiveness and there are different views as regards legislation. In this case, however, there was universal welcome. It is something that has…

Food security has become a dirty word. One of the cornerstones on which the EU was founded was food security. We have become too comfortable in our existence within the EU. Our ability to produce sustainable food is being sidelined. Migration is a hugely important subject. Many issues are being raised by migration to this country and into the EU. One of the principal reasons people are leaving countries is starvation. We have an ability to help to solve that for Africa and other poor countries in the world. However…

I move: That Dáil Éireann shall take note of the Report of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine entitled "Environmental Impact of Local Industrial Emissions in Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny", copies of which were laid before Dáil Éireann on 11th May, 2023. As Chairman of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, I am glad to present this report to the Dáil for discussion this evening. I pass on apologies from Deputy McGuinness, who is unavoidably absent. I welcome, in the Visitors Gall…

I sincerely thank the Minister for taking on board the request from the Oireachtas joint committee, which I am privileged to chair. I really appreciate him doing so. Our report is entitled Environmental Impact of Local Industrial Emissions in Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny, and I welcome the fact that we will have a review of what happened there. I will not go back over what I said earlier in the debate but I very much welcome the Minister's decision. I hope we can bring this to a conclusion, as Deputy Fitzmaurice said,…

It is the first week of July and an impending fodder crisis is facing the livestock sector. We had an extremely long, wet winter which exhausted all existing fodder supplies. Grass growth for the spring and early summer has been roughly 30% below average. We are heading into a crisis and the mental and financial pressure farmers are under cannot be overestimated. I stress, above all, the mental pressure. Unfortunately, we hear increasingly stories of the mental anguish farmers are suffering. Farming is a lonely pro…

I raise a road safety issue. The timing of cutting and trimming at junctions and around road signs is happening later each year. It is almost July. The majority of junctions in my county, Tipperary, have not been maintained. Visibility at those junctions is greatly reduced. In rural areas in particular, road signs coming up to junctions are completely obscured because of plant growth. I understand biodiversity and the benefits it offers, but road safety must be paramount. I urge that next year, county councils star…

On 1 January this year, the limit for derogation was reduced from 250 kg N/ha to 220 kg N/ha. Individual farmers are finding it very hard to calculate their exact position. With banding and the allowance for feeding low-protein feeds, they find it hard to know what their exact stocking rate is. Will the Department of agriculture send a statement to each farmer in derogation for each month from June onwards in order that farmers can know the exact position and will not exceed the new imposed limit?

I ask the Taoiseach to give us a date for when works on the health centre in Freshford, County Kilkenny, will commence?

The Revenue Commissioners appeared as witnesses before the agriculture committee last week on the subject of the VAT rebate for farmers who are unregistered for VAT. A good deal of progress has been made on this issue. The Revenue Commissioners have committed to having meetings with the stakeholders to produce guidelines as to what is VAT refundable for unregistered farmers. The Tánaiste should use his good offices to ensure this happens as quickly as possible in order that the status quo can be restored as regards…

I commend the excellent work that is being done by our front-line workers in all hospitals and the advancements that we have made in cancer and cardiac treatment, among others. Our hospitals give a first-class service to our population and our front-line workers do great work. I had occasion to go to Nenagh Hospital last Monday morning. Thankfully, it was only to the minor injuries department. I got a kick from a cow on Sunday evening and my knee was extremely sore. The professionalism and speed with which I was X-…

The issue I want to raise is about our ambulance services. I have raised in this House many times the huge distances that our ambulances have to travel. The point I want to make today is about the critical level of paramedics operating in the service at the moment. It is putting the service at a dangerously low level. It is at breaking point. We urgently need to recruit paramedics for our ambulance service.

I welcome this debate. I thank the Ministers for what they have done so far regarding the weather crisis. Even though we have had a few dry bright days, the damage that has been done by the long wet spell will not disappear over a few days of sunshine. Before I left home this morning, I walked to the paddocks for the cows. The grass that is there for the second rotation is virtually non-existent. This is for a number of reasons. One is the damage done by the cows the first time around. The second is that no chemica…

I raise the issue of VAT rebates for farmers. Around this time last year, Revenue started to change its interpretation of what was eligible for VAT rebates by farmers. A huge number of items that were previously refundable for VAT have been taken off the list. This morning, I had calls from three farmers whose applications for refunds have been rejected. In the past 12 months, Revenue has changed the interpretation that was there for the previous 50 years. This was done without any consultation or negotiations with…

The HSE made a decision this week to postpone the opening of a community hospital in Nenagh and to use it in the immediate future as a step-down facility for University Hospital Limerick, UHL. I can understand the basis of the decision as I have spoken here many times about the huge pressure UHL is under. There is a significant waiting list for the community hospital in Nenagh. I ask two things. First, to ease the concerns of those who are expecting the community hospital to open this spring, I ask that the HSE gua…

Last week, the nature restoration law passed in Brussels. I was listening to the Minister of State's speech in my office. He said we have 24 months now to get what we need in place for this measure to work effectively. I will be working closely with him during these 24 months to ensure that farmers are not the ones who pay for nature restoration. I was interested to hear the Minister of State say that we made mistakes with designation in the past. That is most definitely the case. In my county, significant areas of…

This week, the European Parliament passed legislation on the restoration of nature. It is essential that there be fairness under the legislation. The maintenance of our rivers and streams is an issue I have raised previously. The situation is farcical at this stage. An angling club in Holycross approached me. It holds competitions on the River Suir in the area. It is an excellent fishing spot, but the undergrowth and briars along the banks of the river are preventing anglers from accessing it. There will be a great…