Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy should let me make my point; I did not interrupt him.

The CAP cannot be the sole delivery mechanism for all obligations of the proposed regulation and we must fully consider all financial instruments available, including the opportunity to leverage private financial investment.

I again acknowledge the clear concerns over the proposed regulation. Our focus here is to achieve a proposal that reflects our national priorities and that works for farmers, fishers and the communities in which they live. Along with my ministerial colleagues in the Department, I will continue to work across government with other member states and the Commission to ensure that Ireland's particular land and sea usages are fully recognised and accommodated in the text of the final regulation when it is agreed in the coming months. That means that first, there must be prioritisation of actions on State lands and second, a voluntary well-resourced approach for privately owned land. An appropriate nature restoration regulation supported by a national plan with the buy-in a key stakeholders can be to the benefit of everybody and deliver the best long-term results.

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