Martin Kenny

On the agrifood sector, the regulator has stated it does not have enough powers and resources, and this needs to be brought up to speed. As I said, confidence has been lost in the system. The Minister may say this is a pivot but it is all part of the same issue. The farming community has lost confidence in the system because it is being forced to keep standards, and it is quite welcome that they k…

It is a witch hunt against the sector. The Minister is standing over something that is totally untenable.

Absolutely.

The farming organisation did not import Brazilian beef.

Was Dawn Foods one of the companies?

All the more reason to restore confidence in the organisation.

This is all the more reason to ensure we have confidence in Bord Bia. It has done an excellent job in marketing Irish beef and Irish food around the world. We all know that and it is not in dispute. What is in dispute is that the chairperson of a board charged with marketing Irish food is importing Brazilian beef. It is untenable for him to remain in his position. Everyone knows that. The Ministe…

The Minister has known me long enough to know that is not the way I do business.

5. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will ensure that increased funding of the Common Agricultural Policy is a key objective during Ireland's Presidency of the EU; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6780/26]

The Minister has known me long enough to know that I do not engage in soundbites. I engage in genuine debate. I hope we have respect for each other in that context. The Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, is the most key element in farmers' income because it is sustainable and long-term and they know it is there. However, there is talk of cutting it by 20% to 22%. That equates to a shortfall of abou…

There was a meeting of the EU's AGRIFISH Council this week. Was progress made on additional funding at that meeting? What is happening? Farmers and people in the sector want to know where matters stand and what progress has been made. I appreciate that the Minister is saying that everything possible is being done and that he is trying to talk to people and so on but we need information and communi…

I appreciate that. The Minister also mentioned simplification. Most farmers who have been hearing about simplification for the past 40 years would almost wish that somebody would talk about complication, because it seems to be the opposite that always happens. Every time schemes are brought out, we are told there will be simplification but, in actual fact, it means more paperwork, more red tape an…

25. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if there are adequate amounts of bluetongue vaccine here to carry out a vaccine programme in the spring, if needed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6708/26]

This question is on the bluetongue outbreak. We saw yesterday that three more farms have been found to have animals with bluetongue. It is a very serious problem and a lot of farmers are very concerned. What is missing from all of this is that we do not know what the plan is. I appreciate we will have a meeting with members of the agriculture committee in respect of this after these questions. We …

I thank the Minister and I appreciate all of the work that has been done. When I ask where it came from, there is the monitoring of the wind but we are in the winter and the weather is very cold. The likelihood of it coming from midges blown across the Irish Sea is probably minimal, I expect. How much investigation of this has been done? A lot of straw is being imported. Could the disease come wit…

I thank the Minister. I want to follow up a little on this. Obviously, these are animals that probably got infected last summer. This will concern many in the agricultural community. Does this mean there are animals on a lot of farms around the country that contracted it last summer but it was not identified, they presented no symptoms and it will only be when they go to the factory and a test is …

I think we will have to have a special debate on St. Brigid on a later occasion.

Deputy O'Rourke is the longest waiting, although we have two more Deputies coming in. Will we go to Deputy O'Rourke and then revert to the list?

And the financial malaise being experienced by our farmers.

The IFA is not at one on Brazilian beef.

This particular pact has put forward a set of recommendations, some of which are positive but many of which are not in line with what we need to be doing in this country. That is widely recognised. We have a situation where the committee has looked at this and it has recognised that there are many aspects of it that do not recognise the unique situation we have where we have a border with a non-EU…

I move: That notwithstanding the Order of the Dáil of 1st May, 2025, Deputy Martin Kenny be designated the member in charge of the Commission on the Future of the Family Farm Bill 2024.

We clearly have a crisis when we are talking about children who are in real danger, particularly regarding Tusla. While legislation is clearly needed and there is work to be done on that, a big issue which does not ever seem to be addressed is in regard to resourcing. We speak to people in Tusla and the workload and number of files involved are practically impossible to properly deal with. That is…

Hundreds of people around the country have good outcomes when they access mental health services but there are also hundreds who have very bad outcomes. Many with bad outcomes end up self-harming or worse. For many, the tragedy is that suicide is the outcome but for some, what happens is that person goes on to kill someone else. I want to bring to the Minister of State's attention to people in my…

We blocked it.