Joe Behan (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

The farm waste management scheme was always deadline-specific. Farmers and the IFA knew that, as did Deputy Creed and his colleagues. The scheme has been a fantastic success and has transformed rural Ireland in terms of investment and modernisation. The Government has put over €600 million in funds into rural Ireland as part of this scheme and this money has been virtually matched by the over 40,000 progressive farmers who saw the opportunities available within the scheme. They have brought their farms up to the environmental and animal husbandry standards required under the EU nitrates directive and, in the process, have secured the competitiveness of the Irish agricultural sector for decades to come.

I applaud those progressive farmers and their leaders for taking the opportunities which the scheme provided to modernise their farms. Their far-sightedness and willingness to invest in their farming businesses, in tandem with the Government, has been a boon for rural Ireland and for the overall economy.

The farm waste management scheme was always deadline-specific and will end in December. However, in recognition of the fact that some farmers, for whatever reason, may not be able to proceed with the full project for which they have approval, the Minister has, quite rightly, decided that the Department will grant-aid particular discrete elements of work. Indeed the Department has written to all approval holders clarifying those discrete units that will attract grant aid. I commend the Minister on that practical and welcome intervention to ensure that those with a more limited project would not lose their grant. The Minister is at least approaching the deadline question with a degree of reasonableness which was not demonstrated the last time Fine Gael had the tenancy at Agriculture House. I am not very familiar with the world of agriculture but everyone in the agriculture world will remember how Mr. Ivan Yates, the then Minister for Agriculture, implemented the control of farm pollution scheme in 1995.

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