There are some really good solid proposals here. I hope they can pass without any kerfuffle tonight. A few things were an eye-opener for me. I listened to the early part of the debate and then returned to my office, but I came back here. Some political parties and politicians are totally divorced from what is involved in farming and rural life. They expressed concern that a farmer should be given an exemption for slurry storage or for building winter housing. In the name of God, where do they hope things will go? Do they want slurry running down fields and into streams? Is that what we want? Do we want cattle to be foddered outside all year round and farmers poaching fields with tractors? I will explain the term "poaching" for some of the urban TDs if they like. It does not mean going hunting; it means destroying the ground that they need to be in good condition to grow crops or to have hay or silage growing. This is just farcical stuff. The regulations are good solid stuff. The other eye-opener was that if it is as simple as passing some of this with a motion, we must table more motions on various Wednesday nights in the springtime for granny flats and log cabins in back gardens to free up accommodation. We must ensure more of this can happen. I did not realise it is as simple as having a motion. It is very impressive that two major planning issues could be dealt with here so adeptly and swiftly tonight. Hopefully, in the springtime, more motions will be brought forward.

Sentiment score: 0.28