Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 29 May 2024
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed)
Mr. Conor Mulvihill:
Yes, in general. I made the point that these are nutrients that need to go back into the soil. If we put these nutrients into AD, we are losing P and K which are absolutely vital for soil health. We also run the risk of needing extra chemicals, which is going the opposite direction. Selfishly as an industry, we are looking to decarbonise. I refer to the dairy industry perspective. We have a huge challenge ourselves to get it down because we have to hit our targets to be credible to our farmers. Selfishly, we would love a biomethane industry based on slurry but we need circular economy nutrients for our land. We do not want to be caught in a catch-22 situation. Does Dr. McCarthy want to come in on that?