Mr. John Dolan:

I can answer the question on joining the dots with regard to equipment but I will refer the question on digestate to Mr. Macken. I am well aware of the work being done by Farm Contractors Ireland. I watched the meeting on the targeted agriculture modernisation scheme, TAMS II. It is my personal opinion that the whole system is wrong. A farmer goes out and spends €50,000 or €60,000 on a tanker but may not have the tractor or necessary skills to operate it correctly. The contractor is not allowed any grants. The contractor comes in and does the work. He might have to move the new tanker the farmer got with grant support out of the way to complete his work. I have heard lots of stories like that around the country. This is definitely a system for contractors because they have the specialised tractors, machinery and staff to make use of it. The dot-joining exercise should be done. Instead of grant money for machinery he may not utilise, the farmer should be given grant money for work done. Farmers should be given extra payments if they incorporate all of this technology because it is an environmentally sustainable way to spread fertiliser. They would then be able to transfer money to the contractor who does the work, if that is the way the Department wants to pay farmers. I will pass over to Mr. Macken on the digestate question.