Madam, - It is a great sign of progress that Tom Dunne, Chairman of the IFA's national environmental committee (May 5th) welcomes informed debate and speaks out against "misleading comment cloaked in tired rhetoric" surrounding issues of water quality. The debate on the major role of farming in ecological decline has raged for over 20 years and it is a welcome reversal of past performance that the IFA now looks to scientific information to help important decisions that affect the Irish environment. It is, however, not surprising that Mr Dunne challenges some of the accuracy of detail in Mary Raftery's column of April 28th, as the distinction between the immediate health damage of very high concentrations of nitrate and the more insidious effects brought about through nutrient enrichment of water bodies at concentrations much lower than the Word Health Organisation's recommended limits is often misunderstood or, perhaps, obscured deliberately.
There is now a vast body of scientific evidence in Ireland and abroad that relates nutrient enrichment of surface and ground waters to emissions from the land. Agriculture is not the only factor in nutrient enrichment, but in Ireland it is the most prevalent. The industry has also had to deal with conflicting advice over the years, so there is little wonder at the disparity between agricultural and environmental policies. European action on Ireland's failure to implement the Nitrates Directive, further attention to phosphorus loss, possible action relating to the Dangerous Substances Directive and the more recent Water Framework Directive all require serious engagement by Government.
While it is clear that the agricultural industry is responding positively to the difficult demands of increasingly stringent policies, we are not yet at the point of open and fully informed debate. Only through that will management of land comply with European environmental policy - which, as Mary Raftery correctly observes, is there as a safeguard for all European citizens. - Yours, etc,
KENNETH IRVINE, Department of Zoology, Trinity College, Dublin 2.