Mr. Jack Nolan:

We agree, but just because one is not letting slurry flow down the field into water does not mean that there are not losses going down through the soil into it. On the consternation the Deputy referred to, there is a focus on water quality like never before. Earlier another Deputy mentioned that there are different priorities within the Department. I do not accept that. We are exporting over €14 billion worth of agricultural product every year on foot of Origin Green. Bord Bia does a fantastic job on exports, but that is based on the principle that we are clean and green and delivering what we are saying, that is, clean water, biodiversity that is thriving - which it is not - and climate change, about which we do not have time to talk today. I am aware that the Deputy has previously covered this, but what we are looking for across Government is a sector that can and will deliver for the environment. I agree wholeheartedly that farmers should be rewarded for that. This would mean farmers would have an income from what they produce, what they do for the environment and from subsidies as well, but we are not there yet. The consumer has a major role to play here, as does industry, to reward farmers for change on their farms such as keeping hedgerows better.

If one looks at any of the feedback on this review what one will note is that many farmers are pointing to a minority and other farmers are not accepting that anymore. They have done a lot for the environment in terms of the many hedgerows that have been planted over the past 20 years. There are people who still want to trim hedges in the summer or who cut down the hedge such that it is just a grassy bank while others would let it grow. There is a European innovation project in Waterford known as Biodiversity Regeneration in Dairying Environment, or BRIDE, under which intensive dairy farmers are doing as much for the environment as many very extensive farmers. We need to be careful not to differentiate too much between intensive and extensive farming. Although they can deliver differently for the environment, they can all deliver. That is the message that the Department wants to get across.