Mattie McGrath warns against land sales to vulture funds

Thank you, Chair, for filling in the Chair to let me speak here. My goodness, we're back again. I'm mentioning today about visionaries and our leaders who fought to free this country. They were commemorating one of Liam Lynch on the 10th of April this year, who lost his life in the Civil War, leader of the IRA forces at the time. And what ideas they had. And a Philippi man at the moment, at the Dying Days, and they walk into a forestry and free. I was left of it by the British. And they ran the British out of here. And they couldn't deal with them by guerrilla warfare. And now we're going to bring the British back in under the name of Fianna Fáil, Fianna Gael and the Greens. Your Greens are right, but you need the people that are very green, but the people aren't green and they're wide awake to ye. Wide awake to ye, Minister. You have caused the devastation in Quilte. So there when you arrive, they lay in licences. The ordinary farmers can't get licences. They've been penalised on Blackadder every which way they can. They have to pray for three or four different licences. They could have kept them. You wouldn't let them. You blame staff, you blame everybody else. It's your fundamental policy. You didn't want it. Policies that are disastrous to this country. Can I also say that I want to thank the foresty officials, the Quilte officials, that have worked with me, and worked with my daughter, Councillor Maureen McGrath, and knocked Mel Down Active, and, indeed, out of the fall to tourism, for beautiful forest walks, for beautiful amenities. I salute those voluntary groups who have created wonderful amenities for people to visit. Are we going to be certain that the gates won't be locked and pendlocks across these walls and stopped? We're not, because we won't have control of it. Simple as that. And we stand here, and the constitution is there on the desk. And, indeed, the proclamation is where there are so many commemorations. Unfettered access to our land and property from sea to sea. And what are we here now? Selling out to vulture funds. It's easy for Deputy Brewton to say we're being excited and we're overreacting. The next time he's down in the town of Melbourne, he's a band killer, and I ask him to go out to kill cash, to go out to the knock me down actives and see what's happening out there, and knock me down mountains, and see, really, the beauty and the enhancement of what is there. And you really have been sold out, you didn't do it, but predecessors, Fianna Fáil, sold the sugar industry, a wonderful industry. You have sold out the fishing industry. You're part of that government, certainly, completely and absolutely. So now you want to kill off the beef, dairy, and indeed the syrian crops, and allow land to be sold out to vulture funds. We have seen the horrible vulture funds. We have seen former Minister Michael Lerner describe them as a necessary evil. Vultures are horrible creatures by nature. We know what happens with young lambs, what vultures do to them. Vultures, grey crows, etc. So the very thought of it is an anatomy to me, and to the people who elect me. I intend convening a meeting this Sunday, at the knock me down mountains, at the site where Liam Lynch lost his life, was fatally wounded and died in the hospital afterwards, at the monument. I invite all and sundry that wants to come to enjoy the mountain air, to have the freedom that they have at the moment from Cuita, and thank Cuita as well for providing a loop walk car park this year, and thank the South Chip County Council, and the Councillor McGrath, for getting the funding to develop that. And we want to keep that for future generations. Today was grandparents' day in my school. I mean, to be here to try and protect and get you to reverse your decision for Grisham House, for those grandchildren, for our future generations, not to have a country here craving to big business, craving to vulture funds, craving to the banks. We saw the bailout. We saw how Minister Donoghue and his last act as Minister of Finance gave back the bonuses to the banks. I say halt, stall the horses here, reverse this deal. And if we can't reverse the deal, this ban Cuita, which we have the power in this rock is to do, and set up a new organisation that will serve our country, serve our people. We won't have any bit of carbon sequestration or anything else in this deal. It's rotten from every point of view, and I can't believe that you're a part of it. We'll say so much about carbon tax and what happens. So again, I said out to men, and mainly men, and families, who worked in the forest service, who dedicated and drained my hand, planted those trees and made the ridges, and harvested them back in the 40s and the 50s, and made lovely entrances, and painted gates with timber, ornate timber, and the signage they do, and to respect their health and love for their work. And it's all been wiped away, our heritage, our culture, by a government here that's craving to vulture funds, that's craving to big business, that wants to go over to the WEF conferences, and every time they're on, it'd be great people to send out our constitution, and you have to cheat them to go to apprehend places, and read out the proclamation, and salute it. You should be ashamed of yourself, and ashamed of every breath in your body, and the people who give us their freedom in this country. That's what you should be. You should be totally ashamed of yourself. You don't represent those people. You shouldn't even mention their names. Speak their names. You're not fit to speak their names. It's disgraceful. This must be stopped. If it means this brand increase, we'll stop it. Thank you. Next is the government.