Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The working group has had five meetings. I established it back in May. In the past, when this was an issue it was carried out much more informally between the Department and farm representatives. I was very conscious of the challenge that we have and I was very conscious of the backdrop of the really difficult negotiation we had to get the derogation renewed, and with the review to have that at 220 kg N/ha rather than at a lower figure. I am very conscious that we have a big challenge and a big battle on our hands for 18 months to two years' time to get the derogation renewed. This is why I have put together the water quality working group, bringing all stakeholders together, to work together in partnership, to meet that shared challenge, and to make sure we are in a stronger position than we were in the past come the end of 2025 to renegotiate that derogation. We must also communicate the message that we cannot take any of this for granted. It is a big difficulty and a challenge at European Union level. We must be improving water quality if we are to keep it and we must do that work together. I will continue to do that. We will be holding a meeting shortly of the water quality working group again to assess how we step it out.