Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and his Department officials for being here. I want to go back briefly to the science. In response to Senator Daly, the Minister said we have to work off the science, and of course we are going to expect farmers to buy into that when we are looking at climate action in particular, so it is important. I want to get right the title of the official I will mention. The Teagasc agricultural catchments programme adviser has said soil type and weather have a greater impact on nitrates losses than the whole-farm stocking rate when slurry and fertiliser are spread in a timely manner. The question I have is on this link or this determination that has been made between stocking rates and nitrate losses into water. There is a real question mark over that and over the fact that, again, we have had the recent report from Teagasc on nutrient use and it also concluded stocking rate is not the key driver when it comes to nitrates in water. I will begin by asking the Minister and his officials whether it is their understanding and whether they believe reducing the stocking rate from 250 kg N/ha to 220 kg N/ha will improve water quality. Is that the Minister's view and that of his Department?