Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)

Deputy Ryan is asking me to do precisely what he is accusing me of, namely ignoring advice. I have three different sets of advice and the adoption of one means I must ignore the others. The Minister of State is responsible for considering the advices available. He will make decisions based on all the advice at his disposal rather than on one piece of advice. He is out of the country and cannot be present in the House this afternoon.

We are well aware of the need for conservation and are trying to balance that need. We hope to reach a situation over the next few years whereby a balance will be found between the conservation interests and the needs of all other interests.

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