Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)

The Minister of State will agree that this is an unusual case in that Teagasc, local veterinary practitioners and a UCD professor of forestry, Professor Gardiner, all agree that the problems on the farm in question are not related to farm management or nutritional factors. Professor Gardiner, for instance, indicated in his report that the problems are consistent with pollution damage.

One of the factors missing from this scenario is the information gathered by the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA, in its commentary, states that while the company has exceeded the emissions levels specified in the licence, the level is within the specified margin of error. It is unacceptable that the company should exceed the specified emissions levels. Furthermore, the details on emissions levels and the EPA report have not been made available to the farmer in question. This information is crucial to enable him to make a decision on how to address the issue. For this reason, an independent inspector should be appointed, with the agreement of the Department and the farmer, to investigate the matter.

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