When is Fine Gael going to be honest with farmers? The Taoiseach is out trying to score a few political points at the expense of the coalition partners but in the process he is misleading farmers and giving them false hope. On Friday we saw the Taoiseach contradict the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine by going over his head and suggesting that the EU's decision to reduce the nitrates derogation could be revisited. He was going to write personally to the Commissioner and invite him to Ireland for discussions on the issue. This was after the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, had repeatedly, publicly stated that this will not happen and that it cannot be done. Yesterday, the president of the Irish Farmers' Association, IFA, Mr. Tim Cullinan, told "Morning Ireland" that the Minister needed to stop working against the Taoiseach and that he should instead support his Taoiseach. Maybe the Minister can clear up this mess today. At this point the least that the Minister, Deputy Coveney, owes farmers is honesty. After all, the Minister, Deputy Coveney, as Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, was the architect of the policy of limitless expansion in the dairy sector that was pursued when he lifted the milk quotas.

At the time he said, "I will not allow a situation where the potential for growth and expansion in agri-food will be compromised by the setting of emissions limits." His policy was not to consider environmental constraints, a policy of “the sky is the limit”. The inevitable consequences were not a concern for him, and now we are feeling all the repercussions of that incredible negligence.

The country had 500 pristine rivers in the 1980s; now, we have just 32. We have a biodiversity crisis, with 91% of protected habitats in poor or inadequate condition. More than 120 native plants and animal species have already gone extinct. Many small farms have become completely unviable. We all know that farmers do not get up in the morning motivated to pollute waters, to release as many emissions as possible. We all know these results are a direct consequence of the Government's policies. They are not a collective decision ever made by farming communities. Now, in just a few months, farmers are expected to reduce their herds, and their incomes, just like that. We have known this was coming for some time and yet there has been no preparation. I think that perhaps worse than pursuing a policy that was destined to fail is continuing to pursue it when it has already failed.

At the very least at this point, farmers deserve honesty; at best, they deserve a plan and stability. We know suggestions that the Commission will revisit the derogation are a charade. Does the Minister accept that – “Yes” or “No”? Does he accept that now is not the time to pretend to fight the inevitable to score political points, but to redirect efforts - of the Taoiseach, the Government and the Department - to helping families through these transitions?

First, I think the Deputy is misrepresenting the decision to abolish dairy quotas, when that was made as part of a Common Agricultural Policy reform quite a number of years ago. I stand over that decision; it was the right decision at the time and it is the right decision now. Many dairy farms in Ireland were operating in a straitjacket, unable to fulfil their potential in terms of their dairy herds, and the vast majority of dairy farmers who have grown productivity and production since then have done so in a sustainable manner. Some have grown too quickly; that is true. Of course, farmers themselves, and dairy farmers in particular, recognise they have a unique responsibility to protect water quality and watercourses. I would suggest that the Deputy, if she has not done so, although maybe she has, take a look at the water basin project in the Timoleague catchment area to see how it can be done, where water quality is not disimproving and where dairy farms have grown and expanded to their potential.

I believe in sustainability in the context of protecting the environment, ecosystems and water courses but also in financial sustainability for farm families across the country, all 130,000 of them, and the State needs to support them from a policy point of view and from a financial point of view when appropriate. It is true that agriculture, farming and farm families have to respond to our environmental challenges, as other sectors do as well. They are setting about doing that and the Deputy should recognise that in this House rather than constantly pointing at them as the problem. They are doing many things to reduce the impact of farming on the environment, whether it is grassland management, increased clover or reducing chemical fertilisers. It is perhaps noting in this House that the amount of chemical fertiliser used in Ireland reduced by 15% last year and again this year by another estimated 15%. That is, in two years, a 30% reduction in chemical fertilisers and, of course, there has also been a much more targeted application of pesticides and herbicides.

We need to continue on that journey with farmers and work with them on it rather than lecture them about the problems they are causing, and then we may get a more positive response from the farming sector even than has been given already. We have seen, for the first year in many, a reduction in the emissions coming from the agricultural sector over the past 12 months and that is going to accelerate into the future.

We have a Teagasc plan that we know can deliver a 17% to 19% reduction in emissions from the agricultural sector between now and 2030, and we have set a target to get to 25%. Farmers are up for that, despite knowing it is a big challenge. Perhaps the Deputy could maybe recognise what many of her constituents are already doing to protect the environment, rather than focusing solely on the problems. Water course protection is really important and water quality is important. Trends are moving in the wrong direction in certain areas and farming and agriculture need to respond to that but they need to do it with the support of government rather than the criticism.

The Minister's refusal to answer a straight question with a straight answer speaks volumes. The Minister did inadvertently answer it by saying that he will continue with the same head in the sand approach. I do not particularly want to use up my time replying to it, but the Minister referred to my pointing the finger at farmers when I explicitly said in my opening that no farmer went out with this intention and that it was the direct result of the Minister's policy. This was really reminiscent of what the Minister said when he started this policy- as I had quoted - that he would not allow a situation where we would be compromised by emissions. The Minister is the one who took part in starting this false narrative that somehow the environment and farmers are working against each other, and that when I say we need to make farming more sustainable I am somehow pointing the finger at farmers. This is even though I clearly stated that it really was not the farmers' fault and was a direct consequence of policies. We could be moving towards a situation where subsidies incentivise farmers to practise more sustainable types of farming. It is not all about livestock units to the hectare. The Minister is not talking about solutions. The Minister is talking about-----

Thank you Deputy.

The Minister is talking about pursuing the same failed approach.

The Deputy's time is up.

With respect, subsidies already support farmers in more environmentally sustainable practices. They already do that. This is what Pillar 2 is all about. This is also a big aspect of Pillar 1 payments now. It is about ensuring we get an acceptable benchmark in environmental protections-----

What will the Minister do to support farmers in transition?

What I will not do is let the Deputy try to drive a wedge between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil on this issue. We have-----

You did that yourselves. Answer the question.

We met the leadership-----

If Members do not want to hear the answer that is the problem, which says an awful lot.

Would you stop behaving like children and let us get on with the business, please?

If people want to laugh at the impact that changes in the nitrates derogation is having on farmers, good luck to you. The Irish Farmers Association leadership made a reasonable ask of the Taoiseach last Friday. It said that before any decisions were made by the European Commission, it would like to meet, face to face, in Ireland with the key decision maker on the nitrates derogation. The Taoiseach has said that he will facilitate that meeting and he will, supported by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, who was part of that discussion.