Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)

I am happy to confirm all my engagement with Commissioner Roswall has been around the substance of the nitrates derogation. It has a very important role here and the Commissioner saw that first-hand when she visited. The Deputy will forgive me in not taking her direct advice because if I had taken that earlier in the year, the Social Democrats and the Deputy would have had us wave the white flag and concede the nitrates derogation. We have a strong case, based on science, that we have a very different farming system here.

This is a sensitive topic. There are other countries in Europe that would like to have a proposal for a derogation and are looking at this. For this reason, I commend farm organisations, the industry and key stakeholders impacted by this across the board on their patience and trust in allowing me to work through this process. My hope had been to bring this to Cabinet and to engage with stakeholders in a way that allowed me to continue to engage with other member states, which will vote on this proposal on 9 December. The technical committee will vote on it.

All our focus has been on the habitats directive and water quality. The nitrates action plan 6, which is currently out for public consultation, has new conditionality on water quality. We had to make a detailed proposal on assessments to address the habitats directive, outlining the time they will take. It is not practical to talk about doing that on a farm level, and we have always been clear on that. That is why I am talking about it on a catchment and sub-catchment basis.

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