Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

The court judgment and the threat of a fine were not the only things to be taken into consideration. Most Irish farmers depend on EU payments for their viability. When the current round of rural development measures was approved in 2000, the Commission insisted on an undertaking to implement the nitrates directive. The current round runs to the end of this year. It was made very clear to us that continued EU funding for the duration of the round was contingent on some movement on our part on nitrates.

The next rural development period starts in January 2007 and will run to 2013. Within months, we will enter discussions with the Commission on our proposals for the rural environment protection scheme, REPS, compensatory allowances, forestry, on-farm investment and the Leader programme for the next seven years. We must be in a position to launch all these new schemes in January. Without agreement on nitrates, there is no prospect of getting Commission approval in time. Moreover, the introduction of the single payment scheme marks the most important change to the system of direct payments in many years and is vital to the vast majority of farmers. Every cent of it comes from Brussels and without agreement on nitrates it would also have been at risk.

These considerations tend to be overlooked in some quarters when the nitrates directive is mentioned. It is hard to tell whether this is deliberate. Others lightly wave aside the threat to EU funding, as though it is a transparent bluff by Brussels. Such issues should not be disregarded during the debate this evening and tomorrow. The nitrates directive, with the regulations made by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche, cannot be discussed in isolation. They are part of a much bigger picture and the idea that we could stonewall the Commission, as if rural development funding, the single payment scheme and daily fines were completely unrelated matters, is nonsensical.

I am aware that the implementation of the regulations will be challenging for some farmers. The Government is committed to helping the farming community meet the challenge by providing information as well as improved financial assistance and tax reliefs, which are already in place. Following from commitments made in the Sustaining Progress agreement, which related explicitly to the nitrates directive, the Department negotiated average increases in REPS payments of 28%. The REP scheme is now hailed on all sides as a success, with numbers and spending reaching record levels last year. We also introduced improvements to the farm waste management scheme and the dairy hygiene scheme.

I have tabled proposals to the Commission for further major improvements to the farm waste management scheme which will provide a far more attractive package to farmers than that which was previously available. The proposed changes include the introduction of a standard grant rate of up to 70%, instead of the present 40%, for both animal housing and slurry storage. The scheme will be extended for the first time to the pig and poultry sectors. There will be an increase in the income ceiling for farmers from 450 to 650 income units, with no upper limit being applied in the case of pig and poultry farmers. Moreover, the maximum eligible investment will go up from €75,000 to €120,000 per holding. I also seek the removal of any minimum income requirement from farming from the scheme so that all small farmers can participate in it.

Negotiations on the improved scheme are at an advanced stage and I have recently written to Commissioner Fischer Boel, stressing the major importance of this issue for Ireland. I expect that any remaining issues will be resolved shortly and that the revised scheme will be introduced at an early date. I have secured an Estimates provision of €43 million in 2006 for the revised scheme.

In addition to an improved farm waste management scheme, I have also sought EU approval for the introduction of a further scheme to support the demonstration of new technologies to help the agriculture sector, particularly the pig and poultry industries, to meet the requirements of the nitrates directive. The scheme envisages the granting of financial support for up to ten projects for the treatment of livestock manures and the maximum eligible investment ceiling per project will be €1 million with a grant rate of 40%. The Exchequer contribution will therefore be a maximum of €4 million for this scheme. The scheme will be introduced as soon as the required EU approval is received.

My Department, working in conjunction with Teagasc and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, will do everything in its power to explain the new nitrates regulations to farmers. A farmers' handbook, explaining the main provisions of the regulations in plain language, is ready to go to print and on to the website as soon as the nutrient limits in the regulations are finalised. Information meetings will be arranged with the help of Teagasc. To help farmers with record keeping, my Department will send them an organic nitrogen statement every year. This will be taken from the Department's own cattle movement monitoring system, CMMS, records and area aid information, and will inform them of the quantity of organic nitrogen produced by their cattle per hectare.

I am aware that many of the comments in recent days and weeks have worried farmers. It is not an overstatement that they are frightened of the impact of the nitrates directive. That is not necessary and it is time for the farm organisations, Teagasc staff, private advisers and my Department to bring some balance to the discussion. Farmers will not be forced out of business left, right and centre. They will not be forced to operate at uneconomic levels of fertilisation. They will not be hounded under the single payment scheme or tormented with extra inspections.

The two Departments concerned, with a great deal of extremely valuable input from Teagasc, have discussed the matter with the Commission for several years. The negotiations were prolonged and difficult, not least in respect of the technical details, which came under extremely critical scrutiny from the Commission. The Commission has its own scientific experts, who are not easily persuaded. Nevertheless, the critical tables on nitrogen and phosphorus fertilisation rates in the regulations are in line with good agricultural practice and agronomic requirements as defined by Teagasc.

Acceptance by the Commission's experts of Teagasc's scientific data was in itself an achievement by the Irish negotiating team. Teagasc has indicated that it may be possible to review part of its advice in a way that could improve the effectiveness of the regulations. Therefore, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche, having consulted the Commission, has agreed to a short deferral of that part of the regulations which deals with nutrient management. Both the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and I have made it clear that if Teagasc comes forward with revised phosphate tables that are supported by robust underlying scientific evidence, the Government will be prepared to make a case to the European Commission to revise the current limits.

See this speech in context