I am sorry, and I thank you all very, very much.

I thank Deputy O'Donoghue for the question. The Government fully recognises the importance of the horticultural sector to the economy and its contribution to food security in Ireland. My Department is closely monitoring developments regarding input costs. The current conflict in the Middle East is putting upward pressure on energy and fertiliser prices. The Strait of Hormuz is currently closed, leading to delays in the transportation of fertilisers. It has been estimated that 25% to 30% of global nitrogen fertilise…

Deputy O'Donoghue is so correct in everything he says. If we take the events of last week, one of our highly respected carrot producers went into liquidation. That is a situation I, the Department, and the Government find very concerning. It drives home now more than ever before that the customers - the people who go into shops - should be looking to try to buy Irish produce. We are better at producing our goods than anyone else. Our growers are better than anyone else but it is up to us. It is like the local post …

What we are hoping for is that the situation will not be a repeat of 2022.

The Government will, of course, continuously assess the situation and try to respond in the most proactive and helpful way we can. It is too early to assess the full impact of increased energy and fertiliser costs but any spike in those prices obviously will have an impact on farmers' margins. The impact on fertiliser price will depend on how long the disruption lasts, whether physical energy production infrastructure is damaged and how secondary markets respond. Ironically, the concerns relating to the price-raisi…

It is not. The Deputy is completely wrong.

What was Sinn Féin doing when the Minister was doing all of that?

It did nothing.

I am very grateful for, and glad of, the opportunity to speak here today. I must declare a small interest in this. I am a postmaster. I have a district divisional office, DDO, and I deal on a daily basis with post offices and post office issues, not just as a politician, but also on the practical side of what it takes to deliver the mail. Of course, because of those two jobs, I have dealt an awful lot with post offices over the years. I acknowledge the Minister's contribution to the issue of safeguarding post offic…

What did Sinn Féin do to keep them open?

We brought them in.

And they have objected to it.

On behalf of the Minister for justice, I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. It is important to state that the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration has no role in individual court proceedings, nor can he intervene in operational matters that fall under the remit of courts, including the processes by which translation and interpretation services are provided. Management of the courts is the responsibility of the Courts Service, which is independent in exercising its functions under the Cou…

The Deputy makes his point very well in a very sound, fair and reasonable fashion but I remind him that the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration has no role in individual court proceedings. As I have previously noted, Article 5 of EU Directive 2010/64/EU requires member states to take concrete measures to ensure the quality of interpretation and translation services. A 2018 European Commission report on the implementation of the directive did not flag any issues of concern regarding Ireland’s approach t…

Nobody on that side was interrupted.

Do not point your finger at me.

Fifteen years as spokesman in opposition on finance.

Fifteen years mouthing.

The answer is "No". It is not an issue.

I acknowledge the presence of the president of the IFA, Francie Gorman, as well as Kathleen Herlihy and all the chairpersons of the different counties representing the IFA; John Joe Fitzgerald from the INHFA; the other organisations around the country watching in tonight; the ICMSA; and all the people who represent farmers. When I am speaking here tonight, and I am addressing people sincerely, I am here as a member of the Government, but I am also here as a lifelong member of the IFA, a thing I am very proud of. I …