Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The issue of anaerobic digestion came up with us in our cross-party report. It is in the all-of-Government action plan. We are hearing about the crisis in farming at present. We are looking at alternative income sources for farmers, to be purely economical about it. This is in addition to the search for better and more environmentally friendly farming practices. I take the point that has been made about the anaerobic digestate. Essentially, a more environmentally friendly fertiliser is being produced. In turn, that fertiliser will be used on our farms.

I would like to ask about the environmental issues that arose in Northern Ireland. I appreciate that this is not Mr. McCarthy's particular area. He spoke about best practice. Is he confident that we have the oversights here? I refer, for example, to the EPA. Are we in a position to ensure environmental breaches do not happen here? What is the best practice, to return to the phrase that was used earlier? I represent a constituency that has urban and rural districts. When I speak to people from the farming community, it strikes me that there is great buy-in from farmers. They are coming together. We need to ensure we are rolling this out in a strategic way across the country so that farmers can benefit from it. All of us need to be able to see the environmental benefits. Farmers can earn an income from forestry, anaerobic digestion and slurry management, etc.