I am glad to get the opportunity to talk on this very important matter. I will not be voting for a ban on fox hunting. For fear that people think that there is an urban-rural divide, there is no such thing down the country. Maybe there is somebody inside the Pale here who do not understand rural Ireland, but in rural Ireland we have towns that depend on the farming community, including sheep farmers and cattle farmers. When we saw everything else close down during the virus, the one thing that kept the country moving forward was the farming community. Different things have been hurting the farmers continuously over the years, including foxes. I recall my grandmother's time when she used to have a few turkeys for Christmas. It was her money when she would sell them. Some of her turkeys were taken from her one Christmas. That meant some of her income that she was depending on was not there for her because a fox took away two of her turkeys that she was feeding since July or August. This is happening continuously. A good friend of mine, Andrew in Killarney, had 13 hens. He was seeing after them, minding them, feeding them and being very careful with them. He came home one evening and 12 of the hens were gone. That is the gospel truth. For Pat up the road, it is the same story. He had ducks. He makes a few pounds from ducks at the fairs and stuff like that. His ducks are constantly being taken out by the foxes. I had someone contact me the other day who had their two lovely cats taken by the fox. I do not mind whether it is considered a financial interest or not, but it is an interest. At one stage, my son Dan had 18 lambs taken this year in the spring by the foxes. Whether it is hunters, shooters or whoever takes out the fox, I appreciate them for that. Farmers appreciate them for that. I cannot understand why these people who are so concerned about the foxes are not concerned about the hens when they are tor alive. They are not concerned about the lambs when their heads are torn off, their legs are gone and they are riddled. They are poor defenceless little lambs. I do not know what reason people have got against those who never do any harm to anyone and only make a few pounds for the farmers who are struggling. Their sheep payment has been reduced a small bit this year. We are hoping we will get back again next year. One of the things that the Deputy who is bringing forward this Bill said was that the farmers are all right because they get grants. They do not a grant to replace the money that the lamb would have made. That is the gospel truth. When the Ministers are answering the contributions, I want them to address that issue. They do not get a grant when the lamb is taken away, riddled, half eaten, or half left there. I want the Deputy to withdraw that remark. Deputies said the cause of the foxes doing harm was development. These same Deputies do not want the development of houses. They are objecting them. They are here by the way for the good of the people; they are not. It is very wrong to throw it around that way because that is not the truth. People need houses, but we need farmers. We have not got many people on the hill sides sheep farming because sadly that is not paying. Many farmers have cut down the number of ewes that they keep because they have not got the wherewithal to traverse these massive hills and valleys, look after them, dose them and all the cost that goes with that. They have cut numbers, but they need to have what they have and not have it taken by the fox. It is wrong to be coming in here trying to hurt someone. My late father used to say, "If you can't help someone, please don't hurt them." I take that with me every road that I go on. I do not ever intend to do that. I hope that I can make something better for someone every day when I get up and before I go to bed at night again. I certainly would not be trying to stop farmers killing foxes because we know what the foxes do. It is their psyche or whatever it is. They do not need the lambs they kill because they leave some of them behind and tear them asunder. I cannot understand why the Members who intend to bring in this Bill are so vehement about this and at the same time they have no concern for the poor lambs, hens or ducks that people work hard to rear. To see them taken in a flash, they come back they are gone and dead. Lately, there were two men who went down the fields because the fox was after taking some of the hens. When they were coming up, they met the fox again with another hen in his mouth. That is the truth. We must vote against this. I am appealing to all the Deputies from around the country who depend on farmers for their votes. Now is the time to come out to stand with the farmers and vote against this Bill. It is not fair and it is not right. To those Members on the other side who are trying to bring this forward, if they cannot help someone, why are they trying to hurt them? It is wrong to do that to people. These poor farmers down the country, up the country and in the west of the country are depending on lambs and to a lesser extent people are depending on hens to have their own eggs. They like to do that. Why are we trying to hurt them by bringing in a Bill banning fox hunting? It is totally and absolutely wrong. They should be ashamed of themselves to be even thinking about it and talking about it, never mind bringing in a Bill here. It is a sad way our country has gone. We have a lot of important issues to debate here. We should not have to debate this. Seeing as we have to debate it, we will debate it. We will vote against it tonight. I assure people out there that I will be voting against this fox hunting Bill introduced by Deputy Coppinger and whoever else is standing with her because it is not fair on rural Ireland. When I say rural Ireland, I mean the towns and villages because those people depend on the farmers as well for their income. They all get a bit out of it. If the lamb goes down the field in the fox's mouth or is torn alive and left for dead, no one will get anything out of them. This issue of a financial interest has been mentioned. It is as if we are betting on some stock exchange or something and that we were going to gain from it. It is such a ridiculous statement for Deputy Whitmore to make saying that we have a financial interest. We have an interest in the well-being of farmers around the country. We have an interest in the people who keep poultry, depend on them and put money into them. These things do fall out of the sky. It is very sad when if you go into a field and see the ewe going around the field looking for her lamb, baaing and upset. The Deputies have no interest in that. How is that? I cannot understand that or appreciate that. I appeal to the Ministers to ensure that the Government to a man and woman votes against this fox hunting Bill, as I will be doing.

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You know nothing about it.

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