Agriculture

The nature and extent of agricultural activity in County Cork is relatively intense. This is indicated by the following statistics from the CSO Census of Agriculture, which took place in June of 2000. Click here for full details of the census.

The third report of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Ireland's Environment 2004, (April 2004), indicated that agriculture is responsible for a significant proportion of water pollution in Irish rivers, lakes, estuaries and ground waters.

In response to this potential pressure on water quality, a specialist agricultural pollution prevention and control section was set up as part of the Environment Department. The main duties of this section are as follows:

Implementing the agricultural measures under the Phosphorus Regulations Action Programme, which mainly involves farmyard survey work to improve farm facilities and practices in catchments with poor water quality.

• Assessing and reporting on agricultural planning applications.
• Dealing with complaints from the public regarding agricultural issues, such as water pollution.
• Assessing and reporting on forestry activities, with emphasis on their potential impact on water quality.
• Liaising and providing assistance, where necessary, with other sections of the Environment Department and County Council generally.
• Communicating with farmers, their representative bodies and agricultural advisers and consultants through personal contacts, presentations, discussion groups and seminars.

The Agriculture section of Cork County Council Environment Department is based at the County Council offices at Inniscarra, and can be contacted at 021 453 2700.