Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We are working together to try to seek extra time. I have brought everyone in the sector into that working group. It is the first time there has ever been a working group on this issue, so we can pool ideas and pool resources for what is a real challenge on maintaining our derogation. My team has already engaged with the Commission with regard to flexibilities. We will engage further over the course of this month. There will also be a meeting of that working group shortly to get ideas from all of the farmer representative organisations as to how we can actually put together the case that will give us the best chance of getting those flexibilities. In the medium term, the role of that working group is to make sure we make improvements in water quality over the next two to three years that give us the platform to have our nitrates derogation renewed.

The Deputy makes the fair point that some of the increased steps that were taken over the past year to 18 months to two years to improve water quality will take a little bit of time to show results. However, the challenge at European level is that we have had a derogation for a long time, and over the time we have had that derogation, our water quality has not actually been improving. The level of nitrogen we have been using has not been reducing. Therefore getting that derogation from other member states against that backdrop becomes challenging when that is the background. However, it speaks to the need to double down in regard to everybody working together to improve water quality as we step forward.

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