Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Senator Pippa Hackett):

An exemption under the legislation, which in the past allowed farmers to dispose of waste generated by agricultural practices by burning as a last resort, has been extended for a number of years. It was never intended that this exemption would be extended indefinitely. The exemption for the practice of cut agricultural green waste was due to end on 1 January last, but regulations were signed on 27 January for an extension of the exemption. The regulations extended the exemption for the burning of agricultural green waste until 1 March. It will then reopen for a final three-month period, from 1 September to 30 November, to allow the agricultural sector to deal with waste accumulated in the interim. The decision to extend this exemption for one final time arose from the recommendations made in that recent study. The study notes that a number of feasible alternatives are available for farmers to manage their waste material sustainably.

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