Shane Ross (Independent)

I was not here for the Minister's speech but there is a considerable amount of fairly convincing rhetoric in it. It is a tribute to this House that the Minister has taken the time to read the motion and reply to it in a quite robust fashion.

I see this motion very simply. It is an issue of a strong but diminishing farming lobby against an issue of water quality. Those of us who are not farmers cannot possibly afford to allow a small farming lobby to hold the Government, the rest of the nation and the environment to ransom on the basis that it will cost farmers a certain amount of money. God knows these guys have had plenty of warning that this was coming. It is no use for them to now state that they want to get out of the EU, to walk out of partnership talks and to make dramatic gestures when this has been coming for a long time. I understand the Opposition has to do what it has to do. However, the motion is an unrealistic piece of absolute and utter nonsense.

Were this directive to be postponed any further, my understanding of what I read this evening and in the past is that our water quality would remain endangered, low by European standards and unacceptable in terms of hygiene for everybody in the country.