Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

I listened to the Senator's raiméis and I am putting the record right. The new transitional arrangements obtained for the major pig producers, together with the additional assistance measures being put in place by the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Deputy Coughlan, will give the sector a significant window of opportunity to adapt to the new regulatory regime.

On 11 December, I made the regulations to give legal effect to Ireland's nitrates action programme and to respond to a judgment of the European Court of Justice, a matter ignored by Senator Bannon. The regulations will play a key role in the protection of Ireland's aquatic environment while protecting as far as possible the interests of Irish farmers. The fertilisation standards specified in the regulations are based on guidelines issued by Teagasc with updatings where appropriate and were subject to detailed scrutiny by EU scientific experts. They are agronomically sound and will support optimum yields while providing necessary environmental safeguards.

Failure to have made the regulations would have resulted in further proceedings in the European Court of Justice, the imposition of daily fines on Ireland and the withdrawal of financing by the European Commission for agricultural supports. By making the regulations we can now pursue the European Commission and other member states for a derogation, the case for which has been well made here.

Ireland's original proposal for a derogation from the general livestock manure limit of 170 kg of nitrogen per hectare per year laid down in the directive was submitted to the Commission in November 2004. This has been updated and resubmitted to the Commission. Our proposal is designed to allow certain farmers to operate, under appropriate conditions and controls, up to a level of 250 kg. The scope of the derogation being sought will cater not only for intensive dairy farmers but also specifically for grassland holdings importing manure from intensive pig and poultry units. Officials from my Department and the Department of Agriculture and Food gave the initial presentation on Ireland's derogation case to the EU on Monday of this week. The aim is to secure agreement on a derogation by the middle of 2006.

The Minister for Agriculture and Food has announced a proposed revised farm waste management scheme to be introduced as soon as possible. The revised scheme is specifically intended to assist farmers to meet the new requirements under the nitrates action programme and regulations. The Government has put proposals to the Commission which will mean that pig and poultry farmers will be eligible for the first time for grant aid for storage facilities. The level of grant aid is being increased for all farmers and will be as high as 70% in some counties.

The Minister for Agriculture and Food has also announced her intention to introduce a scheme to support the demonstration of new technologies, for example, anaerobic and aerobic digestion systems to help the agriculture sector meet the requirements of the nitrates directive. The purpose of the scheme will be to put new options for the treatment of livestock manures at the disposal of farmers and, in particular, the pig and poultry sectors.

The reality we face is that Ireland is the last country in Europe to meet its legal requirements under the EU directive. Another reality is that Ireland has already had a judgment imposed against it by the European Court of Justice. We were not meeting our legal requirements and we face the most stringent daily fines. If I had sat on my hands and done nothing, as Senator Bannon prescribed, today we would not be in a position to negotiate a derogation for Irish farmers and we would face further action in the European Court of Justice, further daily fines and the withdrawal of support for Irish farming. No Minister who is serious about Irish farming could suggest that stasis is an option.

The only way to make progress is to make political decisions, which we have done. We got an extraordinarily good deal from the arrangements we made. I have used a considerable amount of the political capital I have in Europe to get, for example, the 22 month derogation, having met the pig farmers, having met repeatedly the leaders of the farming organisations and repeatedly discussed the matter in person with the leaders of the two major organisations. I pay tribute to them. In the face of difficult realities those farm leaders were prepared to make the kinds of decisions we as politicians should be prepared to make. They were prepared to support hard decisions because they knew that is the only way to deal with the imposition which falls on us following the introduction of the nitrates directive. We had no option because we are the last country in the European Union to do something that we should have done in mid-1990s and failed to do.