Mr. Vincent Nally:

The storage of slurry on farms is a relatively new concept. In terms of shed design, we heard about manholes and internal manholes in earlier presentations. It has been a huge learning curve in a very short space of time, probably a period of 20 to 25 years. Huge volumes of slurry are now being stored. Another issue that is leading to a problem is the power of the machinery for agitating and moving the slurry prior to spreading. As the machinery is able to move the slurry so fast, there is a massive movement of gas out of the slurry in a very short period. The problem with the slurry gas is that it is a silent, invisible killer. It is heavier than air. The fatalities are likely to occur under two circumstances. The first is on a very calm day when there is no air movement. Farmers to whom I have spoken have either experienced it or know a neighbour who has experienced an animal being lost on slats. They are usually animals that are lying on the slats that have not been removed and when the gas rises to their nostrils, they are dead as soon as they get one lungful. The animals that are standing usually panic and when there is commotion, the farmer runs in to let them out. He is exposed then as soon as he enters the shed.

Last year, we worked in partnership with the HSA. Ideas also came from the group of mentors. We came up with signage which listed eight best practice guidelines farmers should follow when agitating. We produced some such signs and got them out to farms. We also put up a number of them in marts and are seeking other mart managers to put them up. Combined with the work outlined we produced a DVD. We got a famous Galway footballer from the 1960s who had lost his son, Noel Tierney, to co-operate. It took two months to convince the Tierney family to do the testimonial but it has been a very powerful piece of work. As of a fortnight ago, it had 70,000 hits on the Internet. It is only a tool but, again, it is using farmers to communicate the message.

As Mr. Gohery mentioned, investment capacity is a major constraint. We looked at the problem with slurry and spoke to fellow farmers. It is the policy of the Health and Safety Authority that monitors give a false sense of security. Monitors are a piece of technology which, first, can malfunction but, second, needs annual if not biannual calibration. Not alone is there a purchase cost, but it is also a sensitive piece of equipment that needs ongoing calibration. The HSA has rowed away from supporting gas monitors in favour of using best practice, namely, staying away when agitating, the removal of animals from the shed and keeping pets away.

The sad reality is that we have seen a number of fatalities even in the past year. There were very sad cases, for example, of a father in Cork who tried to save his son. Slurry gas is a silent, invisible killer. We know that it is the one type of accident that can take multiple lives such as in the case of the three members of the Spence family. There was a tragedy in Poland last year where seven members of the one family died. We are at the stage where we have a retrofit slat idea that any farmer can use. It is ideally suited to a farmer who is building extra slurry capacity on his farm. Instead of building an extra tank, he builds a digester and he diverts his slurry from his existing slatted floor system into the digester, which gives him the extra capacity.

When the digester is finished, the digestive goes back into the original tank. It is a very simple concept but, again, it will require support. We are speaking to the likes of SEAI and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine about what we will do with the idea. That is where we are with that.