Mr. Joe Condon:

In answer to Deputy Fitzmaurice's question on where this consultation process is emanating from, it is from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the person involved is Mr. Jim Coll of the water advisory unit.

On the second point where the Deputy spoke about 80% west of a specific river being a mature area, a possible solution would be that in the old review there was a graduation of levels where you had more intense and less intense. They all had a kilogram of nitrates involved in them, down to extensive farming which, I think, was approximately 140 kg. If there was a conservation grazing category under 100 kg, this would cover many of those areas. This would be a category that would exclude those areas from those fencing requirements where you would have to apply for planning permission on those Natura areas. That is one possible solution.

This review is a two-stage process. This is the second stage. The first stage recommended that the fencing of water courses be extended to all farmers. It is at point 4.4 in the document. This is the last stage. If that recommendation goes through and if it is not pushed back by this committee, it will cause serious difficulties for farmers in those areas who want to continue farming, especially with bovines.