Dr. Marie Archbold:

I will start by replying to the Deputy's question as to whether the Commission will listen. Commissioner Sinkeviius came to visit and Commission officials came to visit thereafter. The criteria shifted. They made it clear that the criteria for getting a derogation going forward under the sixth nutrients action programme, NAP, would include that Ireland would have to demonstrate there is no deterioration in the water bodies that are achieving their environmental objective at the moment, which means a status that is at least "good". For water bodies that are not achieving at least a "good" status, an improvement must be demonstrated. There has been a movement away from the four criteria the Deputy is talking about in the language coming from the Commission. It is stating that we need to demonstrate those two criteria.