Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and his officials for coming in this morning. The Dáil is still not in session, so we appreciate it.

I do not argue with the point he made that he got the best possible outcome but it does not disguise that it is a bad outcome for the country. It will impact our ability to process efficiently and pay a competitive milk price and it will have a severe impact on family farms. There are huge issues here.

There have been significant developments in our processing industry at huge cost. It is not long since we were arguing with An Bord Pleanála about a big plant in one of our processors. Will the volume of milk be there now to fully utilise that plant? That will add to the cost of processing and the ability to pay a competitive milk price will depend on the throughput of the plant. There are a huge number of economic questions, as well as environmental ones.

I accept fully the Minister's point that we have to get our house in order to make sure we, at the very least, hold the 220 kg. Any movement from that would be catastrophic for our dairy industry. When we had our economic difficulties in the last decade, that industry was one of the drivers of our economy and had a huge impact on getting it back on track. It is a vital industry for our economy and it is essential that we demonstrate to the Commission that water quality is improving. If we can demonstrate that, hopefully we can hold the level we have now and maybe we can, at a future date, revisit the derogation we have lost.

As a committee, we saw first hand in Brussels two weeks ago that this decision, unfortunately, was a fait accompli. We have to make sure the slide stops here. Every contributor to the deterioration in water quality has to play a part, not just the dairy industry. There are many other implicating factors. There has to be serious investment in our infrastructure for dealing with waste by municipal authorities. We are a long way behind the curve. That has to improve.

A question was raised about forestry. The red map raises questions about pollution from other agricultural sectors besides dairy. We fully accept the Minister’s bona fides and the difficult road he had in these negotiations. When we go back to review it, it is very likely we will be the only country in derogation at that stage, so we have to have a lot of science on our side if we are to win this argument.

However, it is an argument that we have to win for our rural countryside. I thank the Minister and his officials.

The next public meeting of the committee on the challenges facing the horse sport industry will be held next Wednesday at 5.30 p.m. As there is no further business, the meeting stands adjourned.