Eamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for accepting my proposal to have a debate on this important matter for the farming community. I am sure the Minister of State is aware of the calls for the October deadline for slurry spreading to be extended. The severe weather we have experienced in recent months has severely curtailed spreading activity. Next week's 15 October deadline needs to be extended. Farmland across the country has had little time to recover from the severe downpours during the summer. Many farms are still waterlogged and large areas of land have simply become unworkable. The current slurry spreading deadline is too tight. Farmers are severely limited in their ability to do the required spreading. Each year, we face a similar scenario and the deadline must be extended. Extending it is the only sensible thing to do.

While I appreciate that the nitrates directive is in effect, I call on the Minister to talk with his European counterparts to secure some flexibility for farmers whose lands have been severely damaged as a result of recent weather conditions. Farmers need to be reassured that the Government is doing everything in its power to extend this deadline. The weather defines all options for spreading slurry for tillage farmers in various parts of the country with crop losses and for farmers who have been unable to conserve sufficient fodder for the winter period. In some parts of the country, livestock had to be housed for the better part of the summer and opportunities to spread slurry were limited by poor ground conditions. This has left many farmers with full tanks as they face next week's deadline.

The abnormal levels of rainfall that have been experienced in most parts of Ireland in recent months have made farming exceptionally difficult. Under the nitrates directive, the spreading of chemical fertilisers, livestock manure, soiled water or organic fertilisers is prohibited when the land is waterlogged, when the land is flooded or is likely to flood, and when heavy rain is forecast within 48 hours. Farmers must check the forecasts from Met Éireann. In light of these regulations, allowances need to be made in cases where farmers have not had adequate time to spread slurry given the poor conditions. Farmers have faced increased difficulties with getting machinery onto land. The weather has also affected silage and arable crop harvesting and the emptying of slurry tanks. There have been exceptional challenges in some counties as a result of high rainfall.

I understand that farmers in Northern Ireland have been given an exemption to spread slurry past next week's deadline, as long as they can provide a reasonable explanation for such an extension.  I urge the Minister to argue for a similar exemption for farmers here. The Northern Ireland Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Michelle McIlveen, MLA, understands all of these difficulties, including the increased costs associated with worsening land conditions and the need to house animals earlier than usual. The recent bad weather had devastated tillage farmers' crops in some counties. Fianna Fáil has called for an emergency fund to be created to cater for farmers who have seen their farmland destroyed. A fodder scheme is needed to support farmers who have lost hay, silage and straw. I urge the Minister to take a reasoned approach to this issue and to accommodate farmers who are trying to cope with dire conditions.

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