‘WhenthesunwasshininginDublin itwaspouringwithraininthesouth’
Farmers still in serious trouble
FARMERS around the country, especially in the West, are still in serious trouble, Independent Deputy Danny Healy-Rae told the Dáil. They are very disappointed that the Government and the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine have not listened to calls for help, he said.
“Is there not a special emergency fund that can be accessed from the EU?” he asked. “Many farmers on good land are only now leaving out some of their animals, as grass has now started to grow, but in County Kerry and all of the West, farmers cannot get their animals out.
“Will the Taoiseach do something for them or give them a subsidy? Their backs are to the wall and they have never been in a worse position. The Taoiseach is not listening to them and that is very wrong. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine is from very close to where I am from, but he is not aware of what the people in Kerry are going through. When the sun was shining here in Dublin, it was pouring with rain in the south of Ireland. The Minister must do something for farmers.”
In response, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said there had been an extensive debate on this in the Dáil recently and the Minister, Michael Creed, had introduced a number of measures to assist with the fodder shortage, including the implementation of a targeted fodder transport measure which was introduced back in January and has a budget of over €500,000.
Fianna Fáil Deputy John Brassil said he noted that 85 per cent of the GLAS payments for 2017 have been paid to those who have to date received a payment. “There is 15 per cent outstanding to all farmers in receipt of that payment,” he said. “In light of the difficult circumstances that farmers are experiencing because of the weather crisis, it would be a generous gesture to come forward with that 15 per cent. It is money that is due. Farmers are crying out for some support and this is something that can be done without the need for new budgets or extending any Exchequer figures. I ask the Taoiseach that this be done immediately. It would be of great help to the thousands of farmers in receipt of that payment.”
The Taoiseach replied that he would certainly speak to the Minister, Deputy Creed, later as to whether it is possible to bring GLAS payments forward for the reason the Deputy suggests.
Huge growth in US tourists
SINCE 2010, the number of visitors from the US to Ireland has increased from just over 800,000 to 1.8 million, meaning that there has been an extra one million visitors from the US to Ireland over that seven-year period, Minister of State for Transport, Tourism & Sport Brendan Griffin told the Dáil.
“It is a remarkable improvement in US visitor numbers,” he said. “They are high-spend and long-stay visitors. That tourism market is very lucrative. We want to increase it further and build on that success.”
Speaking during Question Time, Minister Griffin said the United States continues to be one of Ireland’s strongest performing markets, delivering visitors who stay longer and spend more than average.
“In the period since 2010, visitor numbers from the United States have more than doubled,” he said. “For 2018, Tourism Ireland already has a busy programme of targeted promotional activity under way in North America. In addition, Tourism Ireland recently undertook a market review of the US which I was happy to launch in January. The new strategy is the result of a comprehensive review and is designed to build on recent record levels of visitor growth and identify the key opportunities and challenges ahead.”
As part of the review, he said new research was undertaken to deepen and enrich the understanding of the journey prospective US visitors take when choosing their holiday - either on the island of Ireland or competing destinations - and to help to map their “path to purchase”.
“This analysis has generated new insights that informed the business plans of the tourism agencies for 2018 and will receive further input in future years,” he added.
Loopholes being used to deceive consumers
COMPANIES packaging foreign meat in Ireland, especially pig meat, are using loopholes to sell their products to consumers as Irish meat, Independent Deputy Michael Healy-Rae told the Dáil.
All they have to do, he said, is print “ES” for Spain or “DK” for Denmark on the packaging and then confuse consumers by including an Irish name and a picture of our national flag.
“The latter makes it seem that what is contained in the package is domestic meat when it is, in fact, of foreign origin,” he said. “If these companies import meat and slice it, they can then state that it Irish meat. It is like our Lord turning water into wine. It is ridiculous and wrong. It is hurting our own people in the sector and is misleading the public, who think they are buying Irish meat.”
In response, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said as he understood it, the rules around country of origin labelling are very clear. “One has to put the country of origin on a product but producers may sometimes use clever branding to disguise where a product comes from and to mislead people, perhaps by using particular colours or names that people associate with one country,” he said. “The best thing people can do is look at the label, which has to indicate very clearly the country of origin.”
Danny Healy-Rae opposed to new road traffic measure
AN amendment to a new Road Traffic Bill which creates an offence for the owner of a vehicle where that vehicle was driven by an unaccompanied learner driver was strongly opposed in the Dáil by Independent Deputy Danny Healy-Rae.
“It has already affected one young fellow in Killorglin and a few more in different places,” he said. “He lost his apprenticeship because he could not get to work. His father and mother could not allow him to take the car any more. They would not take the chance on the journey from Killorglin to Kenmare. Now he is at home and he has no prospect of getting another job. I am opposed to this measure.”
Several other measures could have been put into the Bill that would help these young drivers, and every young fellow should get one chance, said Deputy Healy-Rae. “I believe people are entitled to get a chance in this world. We could fit the cars with speed limits and other modern techniques could be used to monitor people’s driving and if they went over a certain agreed limit, they would not get insurance or their licence renewed. We could have gone down several other roads, but what the Minister wants to do is to paralyse and isolate them, keep them at home and give them no chance. It is very unfair.”