Mr. Niall Curley:

Sorry, that just slipped out. It comes down to peatland drained for agriculture. It is technically under the agroecosystems provision, so it will entail land drained for agricultural use, not the wetlands in their entirety. Many wetlands, including the blanket bogs on the west coast, are already in moderately good condition, according to the habitats directive. The measure will primarily affect people like the Senator and people where I come from, where land has been drained for use by suckler farmers or sheep farmers at the side of the bog. Sometimes it will be an entire farm, and sometimes part. That is what the specific target is for. The preference is for the rewetting and restoration of peatland that has been used for arable purposes. Such land might be drained better in certain areas but it is still regularly ploughed, harrowed and seeded. The whole point is to stop the use of tilling implements as tilling releases carbon into the air. When using peatland for arable use, you are regularly opening up the soil and releasing carbon. Retaining carbon is the point of rewetting peatlands. We do not reject or negate this; it is a commonly known fact and we understand this now. The objective will be to turn arable peatlands into pasturelands. It will entail farmers converting their business model from an arable one to a livestock one if they wish, but it comes down to the dependent region. Where there is pastureland on the side of a bog, it is usually because it is not fit for arable use. It is this land that will primarily be targeted for rewetting. I hope that answers the question.