Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have met a lot of farmers on this issue for the best part of a year now and I understand the impact it is going to have on thousands of farms around the country. At our invitation, Commissioner Sinkevičius is coming to Ireland on Thursday. The Minister for agriculture, Deputy McConalogue, and I will have a chance to meet him and we will explore any flexibilities that might be available to us that might help farmers to make this transition but I do not want to raise expectations as to what is possible and what is not. The EU law is clear and the rules are clear, as are the derogation and the nitrates directive. They are not easily changed but we will explore any flexibilities that might help farmers.

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