Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman for organising this meeting on this particular topic. We need to stay and concentrate on what we are talking about, which is the nitrates review. That is our primary function and primary focus today.

First, I want to say that all the farm organisations have really pitched well and made a very good case. It goes back to what Mr. Enright said earlier; it is about the economic and environmental sustainability. I believe both can go hand in hand. That is where the political message has to emerge because somewhere in all of this we have lost sight of the equilibrium between the two. Environmental sustainability and economic sustainability do not seem to be balanced off. That is partly to do with the view of the current Government and its priorities. It is, after all, a tripartite coalition Government. We sometimes forget that and so there is give and take among its members.

I am not party to any of it. I am an Independent Senator but it is an important point to make. If farming is not sustainable, it will not exist. That is the reality of it. The representative bodies which have members present must, as representative bodies in agriculture, continue representing small, medium and large farmers. The members present must keep pushing that because somehow that seems to be getting lost or certainly seems to be dropping down the ladder where priorities are concerned.

Of course we must have sustainability and of course we must have good, clean water for everybody. I like the heading the IFA came here with, that "The Nitrates Review must improve water quality, without placing excessive costs on farmers". Again, as the Macra representatives mentioned, it is the ambition of young farmers to be drivers of environmental good practice. That too is true and good. We must keep saying that and I ask the members present to keep saying that as farming organisations because that narrative is somehow getting lost. The organisations' pitches here are very good. They are reasonable and fair, and that is important.

I wish to draw two or three points out of the statements submitted to the committee. I will start with the IFA. Its submission mentioned the chemical fertiliser register, as did the one from the ICMSA. The message I am picking out of that is it must be practical and simple. I would like to hear what the organisations' views are. In the responses today, people generally seem to be supportive of the chemical fertiliser register and that is an important comment. More importantly, we talked about compliance and the importance of that. The IFA again suggested the Department must improve communications with farmers with respect to compliance and non-compliance. The association goes on to suggest a yellow system for minor non-compliance offences. That is a good idea. I would like to hear more from the IFA president about that and his thinking on that because it is a practical approach and one we all understand. The key message in it is we must have compliance and good water quality. The IFA representatives might touch on that. I put the same question to those from the ICMSA.

I was also very impressed with Macra's submission, which also touched on the notion of future farmers because they will have to carry the can way into the future. It is that issue of environmental sustainability versus economic sustainability, and the organisation's representatives got that message over loud and clear. We must look at how we are going to sustain environmental practices. What more supports do farmers need from the Department to help with the balance in order that economically sustainable farms continue to be maintained which are also environmentally sound? I would like to hear the solutions to that and more suggestions on what the organisations would like to see.

On Natura and hill farmers, I have constantly championed the idea of cattle grazing all year round. I have quoted people in counties Kildare, Tipperary, Galway and, indeed, even Kerry who are able to maintain small herds of cattle successfully out on the land all year round. They are, dare I say it, using ring feeders which may not be in compliance with the Department. However, they are successfully running a sustainable agricultural enterprise with other farm income as well because it cannot sustain everything. This is an important aspect and I am particularly interested in hearing more. That may not be covered today but I would certainly like to visit one of the farms with conservation grazing. Its importance was touched on, as was the exclusion of commonage from the scheme. There are really important aspects around conservation grazing and rotation we have not discussed enough. It is something we should continue to talk about. We should be leading with organised farm walks and encouraging people to look at these alternatives.

Those are just some points and questions. I again thank the representatives of the organisations, and well done to them on their presentations.