Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have approximately two minutes remaining and I have several specific questions. I ask the committee secretariat to furnish Dr. Delgado Rosa with the responses we received from the Minister and Department in respect of the GAEC regulations and the impact they would have on restoration. Their interpretation of what the parameters will mean sound very different from what Dr. Delgado Rosa has said. It would be useful if we had the DG's view on this. I want to make a couple of points and I will come back in later if the Chair allows more time. Many of the lands we are speaking about were drained with European Union funding. Therefore, naturally, we will have farmers asking why at one point the EU provided them with financial support to carry out improvement works that allowed them to farm the land and remain in their communities but we are now at a point when an EU regulation might prevent the children from doing so in future. Does Dr. Delgado Rosa believe the European institutions need to take greater responsibility, particularly in terms of putting forward financial measures to recognise this fact?