Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 21 February 2024

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed)

Ms Oonagh Duggan:

Yes, totally. One thing I find very frustrating at the moment is that it has to be either biodiversity or water quality, or biodiversity or forestry, or biodiversity or climate, or climate or water. We have to get away from that and start looking at all the issues together or else we are going to have very unsatisfactory outcomes. We just do not have enough cross-fertilisation of ideas and studies. A lot of people are working in silos and not talking to one another within Departments and we have to get past that and work together on issues. I do not believe it is either-or. I would hate to see a red area continue to be red. We would not like that to be the case for anybody. We have to work on these issues together. It cannot be either-or.