Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

I am explaining the normal take-up, which Deputy Deenihan would have known from his time as Minister of State in the Department.

I welcome this opportunity to restate the tremendous success of the farm waste management scheme as an indication of the Government's support for the farming sector in Ireland through an unprecedented level of investment. As Deputies will be aware, a revised version of the scheme was introduced by my Department in March 2006 to assist farmers in meeting the requirements of the EU nitrates directive. The revised scheme followed the introduction of an original scheme introduced in 2001, which was revised in 2004.

The revised and improved scheme was introduced in the context of the finalisation of Ireland's nitrates action plan which had been approved by the Commission. The major changes introduced to the scheme in March 2006 included an increase in the standard grant rate to 60% from the previous 40%, the extension of the scheme for the first time to the pig and poultry sectors, an increase in the maximum eligible investment ceiling from €75,000 to €120,000 and the removal of any minimum income requirement, subject to certification of economic viability, so that all small farmers could participate. A higher grant rate of 70% was available to farmers in the four zone C counties of Donegal, Cavan, Monaghan and Leitrim. Additional support was also available to young farmers in particular circumstances.

Due to the exceptionally generous level of the grant rates, the scheme required specific EU state aid approval before it could be introduced. Negotiations with the European Commission were lengthy and detailed as we sought to secure the most favourable outcome possible for Irish farmers. The specific situation in Ireland was central to our negotiating position at the time. In granting the extension, the Commission took into account the likely high number of applicants for the scheme, the 100% pre-approval inspection by the Department, the restrictions because of bad weather on the construction of farm buildings and that, as most of the applications involved new building, planning permission would be required before any application could be considered, and the shortage of building contractors at the time. Deputies on the Opposition benches referred to the fact that the construction industry is not working at that capacity currently — far from it.

The European Union state aid approval, which included the deadline for completion of works by 31 December 2008, was based on the clear and often-repeated understanding that the scheme represented a once-off opportunity to enable Irish farmers to meet the requirements of the nitrates directive. In doing so, they would also, of course, be protecting their single payment scheme entitlements, which are now subject to cross-compliance requirements.

The closing date for the submission of applications was 31 December 2006. The scheme proved to be extremely attractive to farmers. A total of 48,580 summary applications were received from farmers prior to the closing date, of which more than 30,000 were received in the final month before the deadline. To accommodate as many farmers as possible, the Department allowed farmers to submit fully documented applications up to 29 June 2007. This flexibility ensured that all farmers who wished to avail of the scheme were afforded every opportunity to do so. A total of 46,132 completed applications were received and about 42,500 approvals to commence work have issued. The facilitation of applications is in direct contrast to the misleading comments made by Deputy O'Mahony.

The scheme has been an outstanding success, as demonstrated by the high level of applications received and approvals granted. In the 2008 Estimates we provided funding of €150.6 million, with a commitment to keep that figure under review until we had a clearer picture of what our liabilities would be for the year. Already, I have ensured that savings of €31.2 million from elsewhere in my Department's Vote have been reallocated to supplement the original allocation.

However, on the basis of the information available to my Department, in terms of confirmed completions and indications of ongoing work, we sought additional funding. I am very pleased, first, that the Government recognised the value of this scheme and provided substantial funding this year and, second, that in the current economic circumstances, the Minister was prepared to provide an additional €195 million to meet our liabilities, which was approved by this House last week.

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