Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2025-12-11
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Patrick O'Donovan (FG), Limerick County

I omitted to say in my original response that I think the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, was not referring to the ECJ during the week but to the European Court of Human Rights, but I know the point Deputy Fitzmaurice is making, which is the same thing. It is about EU simplification. Whether it is in relation to potable water or being able to flush the toilet, it is taking too long. It is not down to a shortage of money. Anyone would tell you that, in most cases, the delivery of infrastructure now has built into it substantial legal fees. An awful lot of the legal fees are being absorbed by cases being contested in the courts over environmental regulations. Like the Deputy, I do not believe that those regulations were ever designed to be interpreted in such a fashion as to prevent people from getting access to potable water. If that is the case, it is time to go back and look at this again.
With regard to what the Deputy said about the nitrates directive, this is a good week in terms of what the Minister for agriculture has achieved. It is about EU simplification and ensuring a common-sense approach, working with farmers and people who know and love the land and who know their animals better than anybody, so that they can have a manageable way to do this. They are not people who will go out and degrade or destroy the environment. They want to work with the environment because it is what they derive their income from.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-12-11/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-11