The lack of response from the Agriculture Minister to calls for a substantial extension to the slurry spreading deadline is a cause for concern according to a Tipperary TD.
Deputy Mattie McGrath says Minister Charlie McConalogue’s recent announcement of a one week extension falls significantly short of addressing the issue.
The Newcastle based TD says it hardly makes a dent, considering the persistently wet weather and saturated ground conditions in many parts of the country.
“He did extend it by a week – we wanted a month at the time. And sure the week that we got – last Saturday, last Wednesday – the land is saturated. It’s pointless spreading slurry on wet land because it does no good to land – it runs off it and ends up in watercourses and causes pollution. It’s a nonsense – it’s when you have good weather you should be allowed apply your slurry and in bad weather park up the machines.
“Stock in some places now have been forced indoors and the sheds are full and farmers haven’t been able to spread the slurry. A farmer contacted me on Saturday morning and said he spread slurry all day Thursday and it was all washed off on Friday – off his land and God knows where it ended up. That’s futile, its damaging, its wasteful, its everything.”
