Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Nolan. I will reiterate what others have said. The one area that we cannot blame on anyone else, and I have mentioned this at previous meetings, is our water quality. We are an island and, once we operate and co-ordinate on an all-Ireland basis, which we should do, then we have no one else to blame for failings. The truth is that there have been failings. It is not good enough that the quality of many of our watercourses has declined over a number of years. That is not all the fault of farmers. It is scandalous that some 30 towns and villages are pumping raw sewage into our waterways, but it is an area about which the Irish public will be particularly unforgiving, if we do not get this right. I will make the point that all of this is crucially important.

There has been quite a bit of emphasis on low emission slurry spreading. I discussed this with Mr. Nolan the last time. Has the Minister seen the potential issue that might arise if the use of low emission slurry spreading, LESS, equipment is mandatory? It means it cannot, therefore, be funded under TAMS or any other scheme for that matter, as I understand it. It is hard to see how removing grant aid will expedite uptake among people who have not taken the scheme up at this point. Has the Minister given any consideration to how we can overcome that particular anomaly?