Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputies Creed and Sherlock for their good wishes.

The revised farm waste management scheme was introduced by my Department in March 2006 in order to assist farmers meet the additional requirements of the nitrates directive. Under the scheme, a standard grant-rate of 60% — 70% in the four zone C counties — is available to farmers who complete the required investment works. The importance of this scheme for rural Ireland generally and for the protection of the environment cannot be overestimated and provides concrete evidence of the Government's continuing commitment to the agricultural sector in Ireland. Some €114 million was spent on the scheme in 2007 and payment claims substantially in excess of this figure are expected in 2008.

The success of the scheme is evidenced by the fact that 48,580 applications were received from farmers before the closing date of end December 2006. To date, more than 41,000 approvals have issued to farmers to commence work under the scheme. The remaining applications have either been withdrawn, are awaiting the receipt of full planning permission or are explained by the receipt of multiple applications from a single farmer. My Department is continuing to issue approvals on an ongoing basis as confirmation of the receipt of full planning permission is received from applicants and has already written to local authorities acknowledging the major contribution which they have made to this process and reminding them of the importance of the end-2008 deadline for completion of works under the scheme.

The end-2008 deadline is a condition of the EU state aid approval governing the scheme, and I would urge farmers to complete the works and submit a payment claim to my Department by end-2008 so that they can qualify for the generous grants available. The end-December 2008 deadline does not apply in the case of the farm improvement scheme, and farmers who are granted approval to commence work under that scheme are normally given a period of two years to complete the relevant investments. I do not propose to alter these arrangements.

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