In a judgment on a test case, the High Court has rejected a challenge by a company, which operates a pig farm, to licensing conditions requiring it to destock the farm to reduce odour emissions to a level acceptable to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Similar challenges were taken by the operators of three other pig farms in the Munster region but they have indicated they will abide by the terms of the court's decision.
In a reserved judgment, Mr Justice Thomas Smyth rejected arguments on behalf of Hanrahan Farms Ltd, which operates a piggery at Kilmore Grange, Kilmallock, Co Limerick, that the destocking condition was unjustified, in excess of the powers of the EPA or a disproportionate and unwar-ranted attack on its property rights.
He also found there was no inflexible policy operated by the EPA. The judge said it was not necessary, in light of his findings, to go on to address the issue of the constitutionality of Part IV of the EPA Act 1992, under which the conditions were imposed.
However, he remarked, he found the arguments of the State in favour of the constitutionality of the provision "cogent and compelling".
The EPA had given the company a choice between upgrading buildings to reduce emissions or reducing the number of pigs.
HFL did not take up the option of proposing technology that would reduce the emissions and therefore the destocking condition was imposed.
The other challenges were brought by James Gleeson and Nuala Gleeson, of Ballmackey, Nenagh, Co Tipperary; by brothers Jack Ronan and David Ronan, trading as Ronan Farms, with an address at Castleblake, Rosegreen, Cashel, and by a company operating a Munster piggery owned by Rory and Monica O'Brien.