Mr. Ian Lumley:

If one looks at the result in greenhouse gas emissions, ammonia air pollution and deteriorating water quality impact, while individual farmers may be making their best efforts, they are not getting sufficient support or the system is driving them into accelerating these multiple adverse impacts, all of which are negative.

Ms Laura Burke, head of the EPA, spoke about reputational risk to Ireland. The sector as a whole is being developed at the expense of the environment, as witnessed by trends in water quality, emissions and biodiversity all going in the wrong direction. Businesses will usually not reverse these trends and the expansion of the dairy herd will be difficult to sustain. If, therefore, a farmer is expanding a dairy herd, no matter how clean the farm may be-----