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

As Mr. Callanan says, the decision is going to be made on an environmental basis. The key point, as highlighted in figure 2, is that the mean nitrate concentration in one of the monitoring sites was greater than 50 mg. This site was used to supply drinking water. The crucial line states that it has an appropriate water treatment system in place to ensure the provision of safe drinking water. I appreciate that there is a multiagency approach to this and that Uisce Éireann is in the mix. Can the argument be made that we should intensify our investment in water treatment and water security through Uisce Éireann while allowing farmers to continue on this journey? Is that not a story we need to tell as part of the argument to the EU?