Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising another flooding-related issue that is also important, on whether provisional arrangements can be made to spread slurry due to the flooding of slurry storage facilities during Storm Babet.

First, I take this opportunity to again sympathise with all those who have been impacted by Storm Babet. It has been devastating for communities. These exceptional weather conditions have caused significant challenges for many people. For those farmers who have flooded slurry storage facilities there are a few issues that should be considered before taking action.

As the Senator mentioned, the GAP regulations allow for an extension of the slurry spreading season until 15 October, provided there are suitable ground and growth conditions and a favourable weather forecast to ensure that the slurry spreading will not impact on water quality.The good agricultural practice, GAP, regulations allow for an extension of the slurry spreading season up until 15‘ October provided there are suitable grounds and growing conditions and a favourable weather forecast to ensure that the slurry spreading will not impact water quality. This year, the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, approved the maximum extension, allowing farmers more time to empty their tanks before the start of the slurry spreading closed period. Therefore, those farmers following the best practice would have had empty slurry tanks before the storm. On farms where that is the case, the flood water in the slurry storage facilities is most likely soil water rather than slurry, as the Senator said. Under the good agricultural practices, GAP, regulations, soil water can be spread until early December provided the ground and weather conditions are suitable to prevent any run-off into streams and rivers. Local authorities are responsible for undertaking inspections and enforcement under the GAP regulations. Therefore, if any farmer is in doubt whether the contents of the slurry facilities are considered to be slurry or soil water, he or she should contact the local authority immediately. Where farmers decide to spread soil water in suitable ground and weather conditions, care must be taken to avoid agitating storage tanks that may result in slurry rather than soil water being spread. The spreading of slurry in unfavourable ground and weather conditions results in run-off to nearby streams, rivers and lakes, impacting water quality. We continue to see unsatisfactory trends in our water quality, as reported by the Environmental Protection Agency. It is critically important that we work with farmers to ensure we minimise and eliminate any unwanted discharges into our water courses. We must turn that situation around.

The good agricultural practice, GAP, regulations allow for an extension of the slurry spreading season up until 15 October provided there are suitable ground and growth conditions and a favourable weather forecast to ensure that the slurry spreading will not impact water quality. This year, the Minister, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, approved the maximum extension allowing farmers more time to empty their tanks before the start of the slurry spreading closed period and, therefore, those farmers following best practice would have had empty slurry tanks before the storm . On farms where that is the case, the flood water in the slurry storage facilities is most likely soiled water rather than slurry, as the Senator stated. Under the GAP regulations, soiled water can be spread until early December provided the ground and weather conditions are suitable to avoid any run-off to streams and rivers.

Local authorities are responsible for undertaking inspections and enforcement under the GAP regulations and, therefore, if any farmer is in doubt about whether the contents of slurry facilities are considered to be slurry or soiled water, he or she should contact the local authority immediately. Where farmers decide to spread soiled water in suitable ground and weather conditions, care must be taken to avoid agitating storage tanks as that may result in slurry rather than soiled water being spread.

The spreading of slurry in unfavourable ground and weather conditions results in run-off to nearby streams, rivers and lakes, thereby impacting water quality. We continue to see unsatisfactory trends in our water quality as reported by the EPA. It is critically important that we work with farmers to ensure we minimise and eliminate any unwanted discharges into our water courses. We must try to turn that situation around. We need to do all we can to prevent further impact by ensuring that slurry is spread when and where it is most needed by crops and as early in the season as is practicable. In the future, this will avoid these slurry storage capacity issues in line with good agricultural practice.