Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)

Where stands the issue of the lead authority or the single agency in respect of inspecting compliance with the nitrates directive? It is 12 or 18 months since the Minister, Deputy Smith, announced he had an agreement with the Minister, Deputy Gormley, on this issue, namely, that there would be a single agency and that we would rule out duplication?

The nitrates directive was adopted only three years ago. In that period more than €2 billion has been invested by farmers in farm facilities to improve their compliance with the directive. Why are we now discussing supplementary measures after the extraordinary investment by and commitment from farmers?

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