Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The officials came here for three days but they did not go to the right area. They should have gone to Timoleague, where we have a derogation of 250 kg per hectare. The rest of Ireland is at 220 kg per hectare. It was decided not to take them to the one location where the 250 kg per hectare is being reached. That is absolutely crazy stuff. I am not being pedantic but, in the Minister of State's statement, he said that a public consultation is taking place in November but that measures were to come into effect on 1 January. The farming community will have very little time to change practices if there is going to be a public consultation and then measures are going to be brought forward. We are deeply concerned about timelines. Last time we had this issue, it could potentially have been the case that 20,000 cows would have had to be slaughtered because the Department's timelines were not appropriate. We are concerned that this is not being prioritised. This came from the Department of housing. The Department of agriculture needs to be here. They work in conjunction. Last time around, we dropped the ball and family farms got a kicking because of what happened. We cannot let that happen again. We really have to learn from the mistakes that were made previously. I am deeply concerned about where this is at the moment. Significant works have been done on farms. Water quality is going in the right direction. We need to ensure a whole-of-government approach. The Department of housing is working in conjunction with the Department of agriculture. This needs to be led by the Taoiseach's office. That is where the force needs to go. Otherwise, I fear that we will have another Zoom call and that will be the end of it.