Mr. Aidan O'Driscoll:

The criteria are known. There are eight very specific biophysical criteria as follows: low temperature, which probably does not apply in our case as it means really low temperature; dryness, which definitely does not apply in our case; excess soil moisture, which applies a lot in our case; limited soil drainage, which applies a lot; unfavourable texture and stoniness, which is a significant issue in some areas; shallow rooting depth, which is less of an issue in Ireland; poor chemical properties, which applies in some parts; and steep slope. Those are the criteria and they have been fixed for some time.

Our scientists have effectively been mapping; it will all end up as maps. They have been testing soil samples throughout the country for these eight biophysical criteria. Out of that will emerge a set of maps to see what areas do and do not qualify under these criteria. Obviously, this will be a huge issue and I have no doubt it will attract considerable political attention. It will probably be early next year before we begin to see the results of that. However, we need to finalise it in 2017 because it has to be applied in 2018.

While the technical work is quite scientific, I should mention a few additional aspects. One is called fine-tuning. If an area is deemed to qualify, we are required to examine that area in more detail to see if within that overall area parts of it may have been improved sufficiently that it should no longer qualify as suffering from a natural constraint. If a former natural constraint has been dealt with, it is no longer a natural constraint. That is how the regulation is written.

Second, there is a provision that if an area is falling out of qualification, it can be phased out over a number of years. Finally, there is a discretionary provision for 10% of the natural land area of the country that we can add in. The national land area of the country is approximately 6.8 million ha, with about 4.4 million ha of agricultural land. That would allow us an additional approximately 680,000 ha. I ask members not to hold me to those figures, but it is of that order. That allows for a good deal of flexibility, which it is to be hoped will assist us significantly in all of this.