Ms Geraldine O'Sullivan:

I will deal with Coillte first. This all stems from a decision taken in 2014 on the equalisation of premium payments for farmers and non-farmers. Once that decision was made, we saw a huge increase, approximately 40% on average, and probably more than that in reality, in the number of plantations being established by non-farmers. We have grave concerns that we raised directly with the Department regarding this because we do not know the impact on the community. Any work that looked at investor or non-farmer planting has just looked at the initial stages of planting and the jobs created when the forest is being established, but has not looked at the implications for that community. None of that premium or income from timber sales enters the community. We would like to see that studied. If the density of non-farmer planting within a community is small, the impact is obviously far less. If that density increased, there are concerns. The reality for communities is they, and we, do not know the impact. The issue of the non-farmer premium policy needs to be addressed. The reintroduction of the differential needs to be done. The IFA has met with Coillte on this. We said this fund is in existence but there should be no future investment fund deals and Coillte needs to look at alternative ways of reaching its target.

That is with regard to the question on forestry.

On water quality, we are seeing that the measures introduced on farms under consecutive nitrate action plans are beginning to take effect. We have to realise that when a measure is introduced, there is a lag time before it is demonstrated within the monitoring. It takes time for that measure to get through the system and to be reflected in the water quality. We are also realising that it is not just an issue of stock density. It is a complex issue and there are a number of different factors, including topography, the soil type, climate and weather, which all impact on the water quality, in addition to stock density. That is not the only factor. We are seeing improvements and additional measures being introduced and we are hoping these measures will address water quality issues.