Results 3,321-3,340 of 7,789 for speaker:Michael Fitzmaurice

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I am not disputing anything. I am not querying the Commission or what it is passing or not. I am an ordinary person asking about a small town which does not have a sewage treatment plant and where everything goes down to the river. If there are also farms along the river, when the EPA does its tests, is it able to distinguish clearly whether the waste is from the town or the farm when it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Dr. Cotter is talking about a scientific test. It is not that the EPA is saying there is a town or farm down the way. Is it a scientific test?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Okay. Is the EPA in favour of low-emission slurry spreading?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Is something proposed to the EPA and the agency goes with it or does it make a decision that something should be done or not done?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I assume the arm of the EPA the witnesses represent does not handle carbon or sequestration or any of that. Is that right?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Okay. Dr. Cotter talked about pesticides. It is my understanding there are some pesticides which, if they go into water, can travel up to 30 km or so. Is that correct?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Does the EPA monitor the sludge in cities?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Does the EPA monitor the sludge that comes out of the treatment plants in the cities?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Ms Gurrie is saying it is the Department that has responsibility for that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Okay. I thank the witnesses. I will let somebody else in.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I thank the officials from both Departments. I will do a quick-fire round of questions and I ask the witnesses to answer them as quickly as they can because I want to let other speakers in. Some 123,000 farmers farm the land and make a living without a derogation. Why are we concentrating on a derogation for 5,000 or 6,000 farmers?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: If 123,000 farmers can make a living in dairy, beef or sheep, why are we seeking to secure a derogation for 6,000 farmers?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: If we were not applying for a derogation to allow 250 kg nitrogen per hectare, would less punitive measures apply to the other 123,000 farmers?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Can Mr. Nolan give us that figure again?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Two thirds of dairy cows are on 7,000 derogation farms.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Does the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage account for the waste from sewage treatment plants in Dublin, Cork and Limerick and tie that up with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine? The EPA said that is what happens.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Yes, the sludge from the wastewater treatment plants which treat sewage.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I am asking about whether it is countable

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Is that done at the moment? The EPA said it is done jointly by the Departments of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and Agriculture, Food and the Marine.