Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim céad fáilte roimh na finnéithe agus gabhaim mo bhuíochas leo. Cuirim fáilte ach go háirithe roimh an eagraíocht nua, the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers' Association. I listened intently to all the presentations. There are many common threads in them and in what has been said here. The IFA said it was too late for a working group to do the job and that it was time for the Minister to get the finger out – I am paraphrasing – and issue the guidelines. Do the witnesses agree with that reading of the situation? If there is to be a working group, who would they propose should be on it? Who should organise it? Should it come under the remit of the Department? Does it need some form of independent oversight and who would be best placed to provide that? Seven weeks is a very short time to try to resolve the problems. What level of engagement is there with the Department on these issues? Have the Department or the Minister met the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers' Association, as a new organisation, to discuss this? What level of negotiation is going on with the ICSA, or is the Department stonewalling on these issues? What is likely to happen if the Department does not engage?

What is the future if there is no engagement or if, as the Irish Farmers' Association has suggested, the Minister comes out with some tweaked guidelines that are not radically different from what is proposed at the moment? If the Department tries to force through what is happening at the moment, what is the likely outcome?

The witnesses mentioned other countries that are implementing the same EU directives. We have a good deal of discussion about the EU, how it is supposed to create a commonality among states and how it is supposed to give everyone a level playing field. In this scenario and in respect of the implementation of these environmental directives, how do we compare, for example, with Northern Ireland, Wales or Scotland? How do the witnesses see the level playing field? Is the Department being totally unfair to Irish farmers? Are there better models implemented elsewhere from which we could learn? Perhaps the working group could address that issue and take some of that expertise on board as well.