Dr. Colin Byrne:

This EIP is a very significant step up from previous EIPs, which were generally for several hundred farms at best. This EIP at 15,000 farms is quite a big undertaking. There is a proof of concept and we have to make sure it works first. On behalf of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, I can say that if we get traction we will be going back looking for more. We really have to get a recruitment aspect into it and get farms involved. It needs collaboration. We have been engaging with the farms. My colleague Mr. Anthony Coleman may speak to this more pointedly. It is an all-of-agricultural sector collaboration. We have been slowly building up to this point. We have the support of the dairy industry, the beef industry and the farming groups. We will rely on those to promote engagement in the project. It is about showing that we can bring real water quality improvements. We have been flatlining for years. In previous engagements, the committee has pointed to the fact that when we take the targeted approach we can actually see an improvement. A key recommendation of the ASSAP review is that a pot of money is needed, which we could dip into for following the evidence and for identifying the risks at farm level in co-operation with the farmer. If there is a cost requirement, there is money available to do that, notwithstanding that it has to be above regulation.