Feargal Quinn (Independent)

The place of agriculture in Ireland has changed. When I graduated from university in 1960, agriculture was the mainstay of the economy. It now accounts for a mere 3% of our gross national product. It is time we woke up to the fact that what is in the farmers' interests is not always in the interests of the country as a whole. In cases such as the one I quoted from the amendment, the farming interests are directly opposed to the national interest. It would be a tragedy if, because of this short-term political expediency, the national interest is not allowed to prevail.

A few weeks ago in the Joint Committee on European Affairs, I stood up to the president of the IFA on this matter. I said then, which was no less than the truth, that the farmers were holding the country to ransom in this area. Meanwhile, we allow them to go on polluting the water of this country, which is the property of all the citizens, not just the farming community. After I made that intervention, which got a lot of media attention, I received a telephone call from a man who served on one of the internal committees that had recently been considering this matter. He said that at every meeting the representatives of Teagasc came in for repeated brow-beating by the farmers' representatives, in an attempt to get them to change their scientific recommendations in the farmers' favour. The truly scandalous aspect is that all this improper pressure appears to have had an effect, and Teagasc is apparently now ready to change its position on the issue.

If Teagasc does so, it will have totally compromised its scientific integrity and become instead just a mouthpiece for farming interests. I have always supported and admired the work of Teagasc. It should, however, be concerned with science first, last and always. Scientific laws cannot be bent to suit anyone's needs; they stand on their own feet and should always be recognised and respected as such.

I welcome the Minister's statement of yesterday which seemed to show a somewhat belated reluctance on his part to stand up to the pressures now raining down on him and on the Government. To strengthen his backbone, I remind him that he is the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, not the Minister for Agriculture and Food. His first responsibility and that of the Government is to the people of Ireland as a whole, those who stand to benefit from the immediate and complete implementation of the nitrates directive. The Minister has shown such responsibility tonight.

We must, for once, stop listening only to the voices of farmers. Instead, we must listen to the opinions of ordinary citizens, who have a totally different set of interests in this matter. I am on the side of the people on this issue, and on the side of the European law we have been flouting blatantly for far too long. I support the Minister in this debate.