Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the witnesses from the two Departments. The key factor is ensuring optimum soil fertility by balancing nutrition and minimising sediment losses in the environment. Legislation is being developed to allow this to be adopted. What about farmers who want to avail of a good price on fertilizer? Will this inhibit their ability to shop wisely?

Under the enforcement reform, approximately 2,000 nitrates inspections take place every year and the level of compliance with the GAP regulation seems low compared with other countries. The group has made suggestions and submissions. To get a handle on what is being faced in terms of compliance, do we know which types of operators are not compliant with the GAP regulations? Will a line be drawn between how high-risk areas are targeted and ensuring there is no undue imposition on farms?

Under the management of slurry, farmers must have a legal minimum slurry storage capacity to be eligible to apply for the derogation. I wonder if it is fair to make these demands on farmers in such a short space of time, especially young farmers who are starting up.

The chemical crop licence controls deal with the nitrogen allowances, which will be reduced by 10% nationally and up to 15% in areas most in need. When we spoke to Tim Cullinan I asked him what impact this would have on the tillage sector. I will read out his reply. He asked a question at the end which perhaps the Department will answer.

If we were to have a closing date of 15 September, many of these crops would not even be harvested by then. We hear from the Department that we want to build up organic matter on tillage farms. This is a valuable resource, in particular, from the pig and poultry sector. Traditionally, much of the organic fertiliser coming from these sectors went to tillage farms. Will somebody explain to me how this will work if we are to bring the date back to mid-September?

I ask the officials from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to answer those questions.

Mr. Flynn stated that water quality is under increasing pressure, almost half of our water bodies are not in a satisfactory condition and we must bring all water to at least good status by 2027. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, to be fair to him, published a draft river basin management plan. There is a six-month public consultation and a list of measures within the plan. In the horticultural sector we have seen people experience difficulties when multiple Departments are involved in a particular issue. The two Departments represented here include one of the Departments concerned. I want to ask about the level of interaction in real time when it comes to the measures needed to ensure the health of our watercourses and the challenges these measures create for the agricultural sector. I ask that because while both Departments share the same concerns, they have different priorities in terms of the sectors they represent. Could they answer that, please?