Mr. Bill Callanan:

I cannot answer that question in full because I have not seen the new directive. We anticipate it sometime in July. We will engage with it to see what the implications arising from it will be and make updates accordingly and as necessary. It is difficult to say. As Senator Buttimer identified, the direction of travel is such that there is a greater awareness as to how to minimise use and, critically, whether we have a system here that will approve and ensure the safety of products when they are needed and their appropriate use. A key message I wish to relate is that the direction of travel at European level is to reduce overall use. The overall farm-to-fork target is to reduce by 50% the amount of pesticides used. I articulated in my opening statement that our direction of travel is such that we are reducing substantially the volume of pesticides used. Everybody who uses them must ask whether there are alternatives to their use in the environment we are talking about. Subsequently, the responsibility on us is to be able to ensure whatever is authorised is fully safe for use in any environment, whether professional or amateur, whether indoor or outdoor, that that guidance is available to users and, finally, that we are implementing the regulation fully. As I said, that includes the requirements for sprayer testing, registration of users and registration of those who are retailing, distributing etc. All those are in place, but there is an ongoing evolution of this area as time goes on. There is no doubt about that.