Michael Fitzmaurice

The Government has created the perfect storm. Ireland has applied itself to making sure there are more jobs. That is a great thing. We should always encourage equality and ensure that people, whether men or women, can get jobs. A lot of people in Ireland are now working and that is a great thing. When my kids were growing up, they were able to go over the road to a local person who we would call t…

He has two minutes and 45 seconds.

It is 20 minutes between six. It should be two minutes and 45 seconds for each of us.

Okay. I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate. The Minister was not here when a previous Minister signed more of our country's sovereignty away, to put it very simply. We should still be in control of our own affairs. That has gone. It is water under the bridge now. We have two systems in Ireland. We should make it very clear that we value people who have come here through the visa sys…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion. First, what Russia is doing is completely wrong and I do not think anyone would condone it. However, at the end of the day, Europe has come together and decided to give a loan, but a loan to what? How will this be paid back? In the name of God, I do not know why or how we have people who sign up to things they call loans. If you go in for a loan, …

First, I salute every farmer and person, not alone farmers, who came to Athlone last Saturday. It was a credit to them. The worrying thing tonight is when I see a consultation for 30 days in a factory not far from here. It shows the signs of policy over the last number of years. A factory in a deboning hall is having a 30-day consultation. You do not have to be a professor to know what is coming o…

On behalf of Independent Ireland, I wish a very happy Christmas and a prosperous new year to the Ceann Comhairle, the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, Members and the staff, without whom our job would be fairly tough. I also want to thank the people on the gate in Agriculture House. That are some who might not associate the latter with the Dáil, but they are there every morning at 7 o'clock and work late in…

Every Wednesday night, we press a button here and decide whether are for or against something. We lose some and we win some, but that is what we do; we make a decision. Poland has made a clear-cut decision. France has asked that the matter to be kicked out to the new year. The least Ireland could do would be to issue a statement and join France in that regard. Whether we are on the winning side or…

Whether it is right or wrong, and whether you are on the winning side or the losing side at the end, at least we did not sit on the fence and abstain. We had the guts to stand by our farmers right around the country. I am asking the Tánaiste -----

----- in the spirit of Christmas for his Government to do that.

But every block builds the house.

I have a query. Has there been a change to the rental accommodation scheme, RAS? I have been contacted by a few people who bought a house and they wanted to sell it. They went through all the procedures 100% correctly, gave proper notice and everything. It appears to be happening with Galway City Council a lot. The council went through all the procedures and there is a timeline of eight or ten mon…

I can send on details.

I have no financial or other interest in hunting and do not even own a gun. I cannot be accused of being lopsided because of it. A lot of people would not even know what neosporosis is. A farmer in rural Ireland whose cows are aborting will know all about it. It comes from foxes where overpopulation happens. We come from a managed landscape. We saw a few years ago, from Kerry to Donegal, throughou…

I wish the Ceann Comhairle and everyone here a happy Christmas.

I do not object to the Minister's plans but I have a few queries, including on the agricultural side. I welcome the exemptions. There are new regulations requiring farmers to collect soiled water. The exemption that they can put down a tank to gather that soiled water is a help. It is to be hoped they will get a targeted agricultural modernisation scheme, TAMS, grant for it. That will help water q…

During the week, the news of the derogation was welcome, but the real work starts now. Unfortunately, unelected bureaucrats in Europe have put in a proviso, because of the habitats directive, that over the coming years, what a cow does in a field and the impact of this on the Barrow, Nore, Suir, Blackwater, Owenriff or whatever other river will have to be screened. This will cost the State million…

Europe is always able to add more but no one ever asks whether a mistake was made or whether the ECJ's interpretation has gone too far.

Are we now prioritising a snail over people being able to drink water, live in a house, have a port, have an airport or farm their land?

At the moment, we are starting on the derogation for farmers but what will happen?

They will drive it down to the ordinary small farmer in this country. Thank you, Chair.

I am not pointing-----

I welcome what the Minister has said but this is the reality so far. Unfortunately, I have lived through a review of the habitat's directive. I was invited to go to a meeting. To be honest about it, I would have been better going home to count the cattle, because I wasted a day doing a review of the habitats directive. You were only allowed to speak for a few minutes and after that it was, "Good l…

Most elected representatives, if the playing field is fair, are open to trade agreements. The reality of the past few trade agreements, be it Mercosur or this one, is that the playing field is not fair. I smiled when I heard the Taoiseach say a few years ago that one was backward if one felt one needed a sovereign state. When he spoke about Ukraine the other day, he made reference to a sovereign …

I wish the Taoiseach well with the new legislation he is bringing forward in relation to infrastructure. If it is not emergency legislation, we will be caught again down the road with regard to housing, motorways, roads, waterways and sewerage. How would the Taoiseach like to get this message? I welcome the new legislation but this is another part. The Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, was se…