Dr. Elaine McGoff:

I would like to correct the record. Ms O'Sullivan said we are seeing improvements in water quality. I am afraid we are not. We are in some limited areas but those improvements are overshadowed by the declines. The last report said we had a 38% increase in nitrate river pollution and 28% in phosphates. It is not a good story. We have not seen the measures beginning to take effect.

In terms of hill farmers taking the brunt of the pain and dairy farmers causing the problem, it is very true that nitrate is a significant issue in the south and south east. That is normally the story we talk about because that is the main urgent pressure but there are also problems in the west of Ireland and very dense soils where there is phosphorus and silt run-off. Although a lot of the problems are driven by dairy intensification, unfortunately we also have problems on peaty soil because drained peaty soil can be incredibly damaging in terms of run-off as well. It is imperative that we get that addressed. Nature restoration is quite broad. We are talking about rewetting today but there are other measures that I hope will take effect in areas like the south and south east, like reconnecting rivers with their floodplains, which would in theory have potential implications for dairy farmers.

On the Gresham House deal, I do not remember what the SWAN position was but An Taisce was very much against it. Forestry needs a strategic plan. We are seeing forestry done in an ad hoc way. There is no overall plan for how we are going to get where we want to go, how we are going to protect the environment and how we are going to get social buy-in. What the Gresham House deal did was put the issue on steroids so we are going to see all the problems we are seeing with the forestry system amplified. We are very much against it. Mr. Kelly may talk about this; I see he has his hand up. Stop Climate Chaos and the Environmental Pillar, if I remember correctly, all called for Coillte's mandate be changed so it would prioritise biodiversity and climate issues. Until that happens, any massive ramp-up in Coillte activities is incredibly worrying from an environmental perspective.