Madam, - As the recently elected president of the Irish Farmers' Association, I must take issue with the biased Editorial in Tuesday's edition.
The portrayal of me as an opponent of anti-pollution measures could not be further from the principles that I stand for, and my public statements as I travelled the length and breadth of Ireland in the IFA presidential election will attest to my record on environmental protection.
I have always been a strong advocate of good agricultural practice based on solid science from Teagasc Moorepark and similar international research institutes. Some 55,000 Irish farmers participate in the EU's Rural Environment Protection Scheme, one of the highest participation rates in the European Union.
The EU nitrates directive lacks scientific reasoning. It fails to take account of Ireland's unique grass-growing conditions. Its contribution to water quality is questionable, while the damage to agriculture is verifiable for thousands of farmers.
The objective of the nitrates directive is to achieve drinking-water quality of less than 50 parts nitrogen per million. The most recent EPA water quality report shows that of 301 sites tested, 98 per cent met or were better than the EU standard.
The nitrates directive emerged to cope with factory farming in Europe. It is inappropriate for Ireland's grass-based system and it is another example of the European Commission imposing a set of unnecessary regulations on farmers in member-states in pursuit of harmonised bureaucracy. - Yours, etc,
PÁDRAIG WALSHE, President, IFA, Irish Farm Centre, Bluebell, Dublin 12.