Martin Kenny

-----to ensure services are put in place.

It is an example of-----

-----the north west being left behind again.

My constituency runs along the border of Sligo-Leitrim into south Donegal. The people in Kiltyclogher and Cashel are the same people. People in some parts of Ireland do not understand that. They are related to each other. They are the same people in every way. Their farms straddle the Border. We all understand that, yet this artificial division made on the island of Ireland almost 100 years ago no…

I listened intensely to the Minister's speech and one of the things that always strikes me is the Government seems to believe what it is doing is working. Do those in government not talk to their constituents and meet people, including the families who have elderly people living in their accommodation with them because they were put out of the places they were renting? Have they not spoken to peop…

I congratulate the Minister of his State on his new role. He held it before in the Government before last and I worked well with him in the past. Sometimes, an old fiddle can play a very good tune and I hope he will be able to do that in this case. We look forward to more investment. My constituency of Sligo, Leitrim and south Donegal, like many parts of the country, has suffered grievously from …

174. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the reason he or a representative from the Government did not attend the meeting organised by France of EU member states with concerns regarding the Mercosur trade deal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25622/25]

I listened intently to the Minister's speech. One of the things that struck me about it was that he mentioned many of the things that the Irish Government has done, recognising Palestine and all of the various actions that were taken, many of which we commend the Government for, and there is no issue with that. The problem is that when it comes to things that will actually give us real teeth, set …

What we are saying is they are facilitated by the approval of the Irish Central Bank-----

-----and that is what needs to stop. It is clear that the Irish Government has an opportunity to play a leadership role. Thankfully, many more states in Europe are beginning to shift their attitude towards the genocidal state that Israel has become. The reality is that this conflict did not start 18 months ago. It started in 1947 and has gone on since. The people of Palestine have been under the …

It is a different contract.

You are very lucky you are not out of a job.

Biodiversity affects everyone in every part of the country. Biodiversity week offers an important opportunity to examine this critical part of life on our planet. It is not just nature for the planet; it is for human beings, too. It is for everybody and we are all a part of that. It is crucial we take a serious approach to tackling the biodiversity crisis in Ireland. Farmers manage and own the va…

I raise with the Taoiseach the issue of Grange Post-Primary School in north Sligo. I visited the school last September I think - certainly it was before the general election - with other public representatives and we were given a tour of the school and the very cramped situation they are in. There are overcrowded classrooms and problems with toilet facilities are particularly a problem. Children a…

It can be.

I pay tribute to Cara, her family and the thousands of families throughout the country who are in the same position. We all meet them in our constituencies. There are 15,296 people waiting for assessments of need. This wait-time can vary depending on their location and creates inequity across the system. Some children are better served than others based purely on geography. We saw this recently in…

111. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he has had discussions with his counterparts in the EU on the future of the CAP budget; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25995/25]

I raise with the Minister an issue with regard to where Ireland stands on the upcoming CAP negotiations. Farmers envisage a lot of difficulties in the future. While prices are high at the farm gate, farmers will still depend on having an adequate CAP in place to guarantee their future and sustainability. There are serious concerns around this kite that has been flown about changing Pillar 1 and Pi…

It is clear that the multi-annual financial framework is going to be vital going forward and we will get a sense of where it is at. The key issue for farmers is that there are so many competing interests. The Minister mentioned defence and security which is the one in the headlines at the moment. I concur with him that food security is vital for everyone across the European Union and across the gl…

I thank the Minister and recognise all of that. At the core of this, and it is the point our colleague from Laois made, is the issue of Pillars 1 and 2 and the kite being flown regarding where we will be in the future. It is something that really needs to be dealt with because farmers are fearful when change comes in like that that we will see an erosion, particularly of Pillar 1, which is the dir…

113. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine for an update on the TB summit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25996/25]

I raise the issue of the TB forum, and some of the soundings that have come from it which have concerned many farm organisations and people on the ground. In my part of the world and in many places we have seen increased incidence of TB and huge problems on foot of that, with farmers being locked up and not being able to sell or trade their animals. The efforts that have been made over the decades…

I thank the Minister. It is stark. That 36% increase really brings home the huge difficulty currently. Wildlife control is one of the serious impacts on all of this. We have to get to grips with the reality. In some parts of the country it is deer; in other parts of the country it is badgers. There are issues there that need to be dealt with. The vaccination programme has also been a failure in r…

I thank the Minister. He mentioned increased funding. I believe the eradication programme cost about €75 million in 2023. There is a lot of money being spent on this, going back over the decades. We talk about the price of the children's hospital. We are into that kind of money having been spent on trying to eradicate TB in this country, and we are probably worse now than we were many decades ago.…

I support the Deputy on that. At the end of the day we have to get Irish produce into supermarkets. We have to get it exported everywhere around the world. I attended the agrifood regulator inaugural conference today in the Johnstown Court Hotel in County Meath. It was an excellent event and it certainly showed us that we have to look after the farmers and that the primary producer has to get fair…