Go down and drink the water there now.

It did not know the sewerage system was there.

It did not.

Forty years.

Forty years of raw sewage.

Forty years of raw sewage.

Forty years.

I will.

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the Chamber and listening to us, as every time the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, sees us coming, he is gone because he knows we are telling the truth.

I believe he has gone from being green to being yellow. Like the coward of the county, he is out the door as fast as his legs can carry him when he sees us coming because he knows we speak the truth. We are self-employed, so we understand what the carbon tax and energy crisis can do to businesses and every person in this country. That is why he runs from us and hides when we are in the Chamber - he knows he will have to listen to the truth. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae just spoke about trucks carrying woodchip arriving…

None of them understands what it is like to live in rural areas and support the local economy. That is what is wrong - we have too many people trying to have butter on both sides of their bread and talking out of both sides of their mouths.

Promises, promises and more promises. The inflation taxation the Government has taken off everyone is now to be given out to the people and the Government will say it is giving them something off. It is waiving planning permission fees, which I welcome, for people who can build. We sat at a committee hearing yesterday, which the Minister of State attended, and heard about the failure of this Government and the previous one, and failures going back 38 years. I named a councillor who brought to the attention of the D…

I also support Deputy McNamara's amendments. I am a farmer's son. God rest my mother and father, we grew up on a farm. I have brothers who farm and nephews and nieces in the contracting business. I understand farming because I see it every week, I live it every week and I have been part of the farming community. Macra na Feirme's members had to walk 79 km. They started last night and arrived at Leinster House today. The Taoiseach said he would meet them and just as they arrived into Dublin, he decided he could not …

He was on the phone to the president of Macra na Feirme today and he said he would not meet them, when he previously said he would-----

He was in the Dáil and he was supposed to-----

They came at 2 p.m. and he did not come out to meet them.

He met them later, at his own convenience, but he would not meet the full group of people who walked 79 km.

Sorry.

If the Minister of State wants to try to talk over me, I will talk over him all day long. He seems to have-----

It is easy for Deputy Heydon to try to tell the truth, when the Taoiseach could have walked out for five minutes at any time and met people. Ministers often sit in for five minutes and take over for anything in the Dáil. It was at 2 p.m. today. The Minister of State should not bother making excuses for the Taoiseach when I am talking about amendments.