Dr. Andy Bleasdale:

I do not want to hog the conversation but from my perspective the national restoration plan will allow us to work out on a national spatial level the areas on which we should focus in terms of production. Production in those areas is fine as is. In other parts of the country, however, production may not be as economic. Farmers there are producing but perhaps not to the same extent as farmers elsewhere. The solution we seek to deliver is for them to tilt their activity more towards a nature focus and be rewarded for that change. The national restoration plan moves the focus away from the NPWS as the sole deliverer of a solution to an all-of-government solution that is badly required and overdue. When we previously engaged with the farming community in designated areas, it was the NPWS imposing these restrictions or burdens, according to the farming community, in the absence of a fund that could deliver that change. Although the nature restoration regulation might be resisted in some quarters, it gives Ireland an opportunity to embrace the challenge of an informed dialogue that will include and support that transition with farmers' goodwill on a voluntary basis. It cannot be forced upon the farming community; rather, it must be with their agreement. There is significant work, dialogue and negotiation to be done in the two years to the end of 2026 to produce that plan.