Mr. Niall Curley:

It will come down to the blocking of the drains that have been dug in the far-distant or recent past to keep the land drained. The main thing will be to ensure the land becomes more sodden, or wetter peatland. This is a target for land across Europe. There are many more arable peatlands across the rest of Europe than in Ireland. We have a lot more peatland in pasture. The definition has been put in and it shows a preference but, when it comes down to the Government writing its plan, it will be a question of its writing it to ensure the measures are fulfilled, or that the agricultural peatland will be rewetted. I foresee that when the measure is being put forward, it will be mainly sheep and cattle farmers who will be asked to rewet their land to a certain extent by blocking drains or removing them to allow it to revert to a certain extent. The Commission mentions that it does not necessarily mean the complete removal of activity. If you can continue to farm the land, good for you; however, in many cases, where land is already quite wet and the drains are dealt with already, the land will have to be allowed to revert to a certain extent if it comes under the specific targets the Government wishes to put in place.