Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate that Dr. Delgado Rosa only had a short period of time in which to do the presentation. If he could he share any of the back-up material with the committee, it would be a huge help. We would see ourselves as slightly distinct from the rest of Europe in that we are an island nation surrounded by water so Dr. Delgado Rosa can understand why in respect of rewetting, people here can get very alarmed that we will have water coming at us from outside and from within. It is within that context that people are most alarmed that there does not seem to be a greater sense of research and scoping the full implications of this.

The fact that we are an island nation gives us a unique status in the European picture, in that we do not have a landmass beside us and are very much a stand-alone nation. In respect of the arbitrary guidelines, recommendations and targets given by Dr. Delgado Rosa, as he said, the voluntary approach has worked well. Surely there must be an opportunity and scope for a country to say these targets are unworkable for us given the unique set of circumstances we have here. Could Dr. Delgado Rosa respond to that?