Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I accept that. I know some people do not accept the science but I do. I want to get to the point because of time constraints. With regard to the best approach to improving water quality and stopping nitrates from getting into water bodies, is the reduction of cattle numbers not just a blunt instrument as there is already a lot of naturally occurring nitrogen in the soil? Would a better solution not be the implementation of compliance with measures such as making sure there is no spreading during the close season and perhaps on-farm inspections to make sure this does not happen? We hear from Teagasc that this would achieve far greater results in terms of water quality rather than a blunt instrument such as removing cattle from a farm.