Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Dr. Cotter stated a number of times that agriculture represents the greatest threat to 1,000 water sources in the country but that is not the case. If I draw a diagonal line on the map, in probably half the country there is a high number of small and medium farmers, predominantly of sucklers, who are not the catalyst in respect of the nitrogen issue. I acknowledge that our guests have come to the meeting to talk to the farming community but it is important that they rephrase that figure in their future discussions to reflect the fact it is not solely farmers who are the greatest threat to those 1,000 water sources.