Mr. John Carroll:

I thank the Senator. His question was about the North and the importation of fertiliser across the Border. We have consulted a lot with the Department about this scheme. We see the merits of it. Efficient use of fertiliser is foremost for everyone trading fertiliser. We want to make sure it is used as efficiently as possible, in line with all Teagasc recommendations and the green book. We feel that much has been done and the register will show that. We will find that almost all farmers will be compliant when the register gives the figures. I am confident about that. However, farmers who want to avoid the register can avoid it easily by trading fertiliser across the Border. Fertiliser is traded both ways across the Border. That is fully legal and compliant. Farmers are doing nothing wrong by doing that. That is happening today. Traders throughout the country who trade straw might bring down a load of fertiliser and bring a load of straw back to the North. That trade has been happening for years and is fully legitimate. However, I understand that trade will not be gathered in this register unless farmers want to include it themselves. It certainly will not be given by retailers in the North. There is no way that they are giving the figures and they are not being asked for the figures. That is the shortcoming that we see in the register.

We have got into dialogue with the Department about IT but we have no clear view of what is required, the timelines or what it will take for us to produce what the Department wants. That involves an investment and a time constraint because we will have to build computer systems that can cope with that. We do not have the necessary information. I understand that this will be based on herd numbers. We do not hold herd numbers for farmers except for milk suppliers. We will have to gather those so that we can give the Department the information it requires, because it requires the information by herd number.