Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)

Under UK rules, a green cover is not required over the winter period, which is eminently sensible. Likewise, there is no closed period for ploughing. On the contrary, the UK environmental agency appears to promote winter ploughing and sub-soiling especially where compaction is a problem. Furthermore, the nitrogen recommendation for the main crops is significantly higher under the UK legislation. The system that operates in the UK appears to adopt a more flexible approach, which clearly takes cognisance of the practical situation that applies on the ground.

Surely in the very inclement weather of the past two summers and autumns we have experienced and which pertained during the harvest period, it is clear that there was significant compaction which necessitates sub-soiling and early ploughing. Late ploughing in such circumstances results in poor establishment, less efficient use of nitrates, deficiencies and reduced yields, and increased risk of disease from carry-over from volunteer cereals. There is a question of equality of treatment, which is an essential element that is supposed to underpin the application of EU legislation. Are the rules which are environmental in nature not being consistently applied across the EU? Why should Irish growers be more constrained, punished and disadvantaged as a result?

That is the type of thing that leads to people adopting a negative tone when they should not. I compliment all the members of the committee on the work they have put in. I advocate more resources for the Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Scrutiny, which has an enormous workload. I thank the committee members for the work they have done.

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