Mr. Bill Callanan:

I will bring the Chairman back to the beginning. The nitrates derogation is contingent on having a nitrates action programme. That has to be agreed and when in place, from a regulatory point of view, the opportunity to secure a derogation is available to a country. It has always been a requirement for us to comply with the habitats directive. That has been the case since the instigation. I have been involved since 2010 and that has been done at plan level. The overall nitrates action plan is accompanied by a Natura assessment and an appropriate assessment under the habitats directive.

Case law has evolved since then, particularly driven by the 2018 Dutch nitrates case, which identified we need to consider this at a more granular level to ensure we are compliant. Its direction was that agricultural activity may constitute an impact in terms of Natura. We are challenged by that requirement and are looking to develop a plan to generate compliance with that specific requirement for habitats compliance at a more granular level than just the plan. We propose to do it at a catchments level. We have engaged Daire Ó hUallacháin, who is originally from Teagasc. We have also engaged an external consultant on how to design that.

The next stage, which the Chairman is talking about, is conducting such assessments. That is a job of work yet to be determined in terms of how it is constructed, the requirements involved and the time period it will take to deliver it.