Mr. John Fitzgerald:

There would be two outcomes. First, we would be in danger of losing important habitats and species which have their own intrinsic value. That value is a value to Ireland. If Ireland is found to be in breach of directives, and we were found to be on the wrong side of the European Court of Justice before and we have been threatened with fines. We have managed so far to keep away from that. Very large fines can be imposed, both once off fines and followed up by daily fines.