From:Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon TD, met the European Commissioner for the Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy, Jessika Roswall, as part of her visit to Ireland this week.

The meeting covered a broad range of topics including priorities for the upcoming Irish Presidency of the EU.

Speaking after the meeting, Minister Heydon stated:

"I was delighted to welcome Commissioner Roswall back to Ireland once again for a very constructive engagement on several key topics. This included discussion on how Ireland will deliver the environmental assessment process that forms a condition of our current nitrates derogation. These assessments are a very significant undertaking, but one that I am committed to delivering. The European Commission’s on-going evaluation of the Nitrates Directive and the “stress-test” of the Birds and Habitats Directives were also discussed."

The Minister also welcomed the Commissioner’s commitment to participate in the Global Bioeconomy Summit taking place in Dublin this October.