Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 20 March 2024

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed)

Photo of Victor BoyhanVictor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will turn to Ms Keegan in a moment. On one hand, we talk about the importance and we realise this is enforcement. There is clearly a need for shared services and synergies because there is a disconnect with all of the different stakeholders. That is not a criticism, but it is obvious to everyone. If we are going to lead by example, we are not talking about training people. We are a bit down the road from all of that. In terms of instilling confidence in the people involved, we have to be able to say we are up to our game and we have the people in place. We heard tonight about recruitment programmes and it is definitely about recruiting people, but are we really serious about tackling this issue if we are still in the process of trying to train people? It is all about resources. Who is really committed to addressing the issue? We see the finger-pointing in a particular direction all the time, but there are many aspects and many sides to this debate. My takeaway from listening in from my office and to the ongoing debates is the disconnect between all of the different groups and the lack of the co-ordination. That is not deliberate, but it is the nature of it. We need a bigger overarching umbrella on the issue, but Ms Keegan might elaborate on that.

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