Mr. Michael Moroney:

On the closed period, the Deputy is right, we are saying the system is far too simplistic. We are making decisions about when is the best time to spread slurry based on a calendar, not based on the conditions at the time. The Teagasc PastureBase survey programme shows there is more grass growth in November in most years than in January but we are still applying slurry in January and not in November. In some Novembers, the conditions are not suitable for spreading slurry but we are not using a scientific approach to the management of the issue. We are using a simplistic calendar-based approach. We are picking a date on the calendar, irrespective of the weather.

Some of the Deputy's Dáil colleagues have mentioned climate change, the impact it is having on the environment and the changes we are living through. None of that is being taken into account in deciding the best time for slurry application in this country. That is important. We are saying that needs to change as a matter of urgency. The evidence that the current approach is not working is that our water quality has deteriorated. What more evidence is needed? The only effect that extending the closed period into October will have is that more slurry will be spread from 15 January. It will not mean anything else. It will mean a higher concentration of slurry spreading on 15 January or on whatever date it opens in the respective regions. It will not mean that people will behave differently. It will mean that the floodgates will open at a certain point. The decision to spread in January will, unfortunately, be made irrespective of weather conditions and the end result is that a lot of the slurry will end up in the wrong place. It will not end up at the growing point of the plant. On our analyses of everything else, including the pandemic, we are using scientific data but we are not doing so to deal with this important issue on Irish farms.