Peter Callanan (Fianna Fail)

I join Senator John Phelan in welcoming the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food, Deputy Aylward. I wish the Minister of State well in forthcoming events on 11 June as he would be a good representative.

It is a pleasure to contribute to this debate on agriculture. We know the success of this and the last Government relative to managing agriculture at European level and local level. We are particularly pleased with the team, the Minister, Deputy Joe Walsh, the Ministers of State, Deputy Aylward and Deputy Treacy, and with the departmental staff who have been engaged, on an ongoing basis, together with the Ministers relative to agricultural matters as they affect the Irish economy, Irish agriculture and farmers generally. I congratulate them all and ask the Minister of convey those sentiments to the Department.

Before I begin my contribution I have to recognise what Senator John Phelan said when he referred to the Cork test on water. It is fair to say that where Cork leads, except in hurling on the odd occasion, others follow. In the early 1990s, Cork was engaged in the introduction and announcement of the nitrates directive for the purpose of trying to improve water quality in some of the river basin that showed a high level of pollution in Cork. That has been done reasonably successfully. It may not have met the standard we would have wished, but it was a huge step forward. We are pleased with that and the tests have been confirmed by the EPA and Cork County Council. Cork is leading.

Another area in which Cork led — it should be of some interest to this House — and about which I have been speaking for some time, was the nitrates directive in 1991. Everyone put that to bed. When the time came, the chips were down and it had to be implemented. I recall for the House that Good Farming Practices was signed off by two Ministers, the then Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mr. Yates, and the then Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Deputy Howlin.