Mr. Paul Savage:

I will deal with the general question around reviewing, reviewing ACRES and what the Department will do in the context of moving into the next programme. The Senator talked about this a little in terms of how we review the effectiveness of the programme on an ongoing basis. I will take the evolution of ACRES as it stands now into what a new scheme might potentially look like in the next CAP. It is, as a matter of course, our practice to review the experience under the environmental programme when we come to look at a new environmental programme under a new CAP regime. As I mentioned, in the context of looking at a successor to GLAS in the previous programme, we reviewed the experience, performance and impact of GLAS. We reviewed where we got to regarding REAP, as I mentioned, in addition to our experience with the European Innovation Partnership programme. It is fair to say we draw on all the possible information on and experience of implementing the schemes at our disposal before we move into the next iteration of whatever the environmental programme is. That will be a feature next time around as well. When we come around and see the regulatory framework that will be delivered after the next negotiations, we will look at that and at what lessons can be learned from the implementation of ACRES.

We made the point, as did the Secretary General, that there has been a huge shift in the ambition we tried to achieve with ACRES.

The results-based approach to schemes is something that has not been done before. It is a genuine attempt to measure the benefit of environmental expenditure. We are also trying to achieve better results across the board in what we are doing and to get better value for public money at the end of the day. From that point of view, it has been a major step forward. As it was said earlier, we would be happy to let that evolve and continue. It will depend upon what the next framework will look like in the context of the scope we will have to do that.

Overall, this current CAP has moved into a more performance-based approach than was the previous case. There is a new delivery model associated with the implementation of the CAP. Member states are given responsibility to go ahead and design their programmes but they have to be done in a way that is demonstrably contributing to EU objectives. We must be able to demonstrate to the Commission that what we are proposing is going to contribute to the overall EU objectives in the context of the legislation. After that, it is up to us to implement the schemes as effectively and efficiently as we can. They are the things that we will combine and reconcile next time round. We will look at ACRES, at the experience, evaluation and monitoring that we carry out and we will feed that into a consideration for what the next framework will allow us to do. That will certainly be a part of it.

On the training and the water quality issue the Senator mentioned that referred to land stripped and cattle effectively urinating in the water, I am not sure what the Senator was saying there. Was there fencing removed after it had been put in place or was there a reversal of an action that somebody had undertaken?