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

-----agreed by 27 member states, and it has been around for quite some time, long before Eamon Ryan was a member of this Government.

I believe it is possible to produce high-quality food in this country and still have good water quality. That is actually what people in Ireland want, in rural and in urban communities. If we get a reputation for producing food in a way that is not sustainable, we will lose market share around the world. A total of 90% of the food we produce is for export, and we need to maintain that reputation for having sustainable agriculture and being genuine about the Origin Green concept, so it is in everyone's interest to get this right. Farmers want to keep the derogation, we want to keep our market share around the world and we also want to improve our water quality, which means the Government and farmers working together to make sure that happens between now and 2025. Yes, it involves investment in treatment plants, reducing industrial waste and changes on farm. If we do that, we will keep the derogation, but bear this in mind. To keep the derogation is a vote of 27 member states, most of which do not have the derogation and see it as a competitive advantage that we have, so we need to be clever about this. It does not involve slagging off Eamon Ryan. It means boxing clever and actually looking after the interests of farmers, and that means improving our water quality so that we can keep the derogation.

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