Results 881-900 of 2,691 for speaker:Tim Lombard
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)
Tim Lombard: Is that based on modelling?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)
Tim Lombard: May I ask about the monitoring data and how the EPA operates the load? How is the load per river arrived at?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)
Tim Lombard: Yes.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)
Tim Lombard: Regarding cattle numbers in that modelling, we can define which is the derogation farm and the farm practices it has modified to adhere to the derogation. We are all aware of them – different fertiliser spreading methods, soiled water storage, etc. We are all aware of different fertilisers spreading soiled water all the way through. When it comes to the modelling and looking at cow...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)
Tim Lombard: What is the point of having a derogation? I acknowledge the good work that the derogation farmers are doing. There has been a significant reduction in chemical nitrogen, there is a shorter spreading window and derogation farmers are using new technology in the spreading of slurry, as required by law. Looking at the load of a river, it would be worrying if the derogation farmers were not...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)
Tim Lombard: With respect, and I am not trying to be argumentative, if the derogation farmers are taking these all extra measures and that is not being acknowledged in the modelling, it would put into question the accuracy of the model. Otherwise, we could be dealing with a catchment where there is no farming derogation, everyone is using a splash plate and they are all using different forms of nitrogen....
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)
Tim Lombard: What is the difference between the model? The model I am suggesting is that the work being done by derogation farmers be taken into consideration when looking at the number of cows within a catchment area. In the Timoleague area, that is taken into consideration. I will come back in later.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)
Tim Lombard: I will start with the scientific evidence. Deputy Matthews made a really interesting point. I will take Dr. Cotter to my part of the world to a place in west Cork called Timoleague and the catchment below there. Could Dr. Cotter explain to me how often the EPA tests water in bodies of water that are part of this programme?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)
Tim Lombard: For the people who are watching, as Deputy Matthews mentioned, how many times or how often is the water tested in the catchment in Timoleague? That is a really important experiment that has worked really well for the last 14 years.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)
Tim Lombard: Teagasc tests the water 52,000 times a year. For every one measurement the EPA takes, it takes 4,368. This catchment has more than 2,500 cows in the catchment area. It is probably the most densely populated cow herd area in Ireland, although I am open to correction. Teagasc's records are slightly different from the EPA's, as Dr. Cotter stated. The nitrate levels in that catchment area,...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)
Tim Lombard: But-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)
Tim Lombard: I agree.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)
Tim Lombard: However, there is a difference in that respect.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)
Tim Lombard: Why?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)
Tim Lombard: The question is why.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)
Tim Lombard: I am not being rude. Please do not take me as being rude, but the EPA is the body and entity in this case. Dr. Cotter stated previously she would like to get to the bottom of it, which I believe was her terminology an hour ago. Farmers have visited this catchment area. They have done farm works there. They have watched the technology that is being used on these farms. It has to be...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)
Tim Lombard: Can Dr. Cotter see the frustration within the industry when they see the results of good farming practice that show a reduction in nitrogen, which we are all striving for, and for some reason they are not taken into consideration?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)
Tim Lombard: Dr. Cotter made a statement that she can see the changes brought about by technology coming in a 12-month period. In other words, Dr. Cotter thinks the 12-month testing period is appropriate. My brother is an analytical chemist and he was on the phone to me straight away about this. It is a very unusual statement. Does Dr. Cotter believe a better or longer timeline is required, or is 12...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)
Tim Lombard: Under the advice that was given at the time.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)
Tim Lombard: Let us take a very low figure. Is Dr. Cotter saying that if we were to reduce nitrogen to 170 mg/l tomorrow morning, in 12 months' time we would see all the waterways in Ireland clear?