Fighting pollution - Max fines are far too low

Food giant Dairygold was fined the maximum €12,000 at Midleton Court yesterday after the firm admitted it was responsible for the accidental death of around 20,000 fish in the Kiltha River in East Cork.

Dairygold has an annual turnover of around €750m so a fine of €12,000, even with the added costs, is far more an inconvenience than a deterrent.

Over the next few years the ending of milk quotas and the ambitions expressed in Food Harvest 2020 should bring farming and agri-sector activities to a new level. With that in mind it is time to radically increase the maximum penalties available to the courts.