Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 22 March 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Strategic Direction of Bord Bia: Discussion

Ms Deirdre Ryan:

There is still concern. We have been engaging with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, FSAI, and Teagasc. The Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, still has concerns around the heavy metal content of digestate in particular. As such, we do not allow any raw or treated sewage sludge to be spread on Bord Bia quality-assured farms, but it is certainly something we will review in line with our technical advisory committees once the research and science has developed and there is confidence there are no risks to human health. Then it is something that can be integrated into-----