Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 194: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the status of his Department's implementation of the nitrates directive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16437/05]

Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 286: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the reason the classification of County Donegal was altered in the latest nitrates directive action plan submitted to the European Commission; the scientific basis for the decision; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16438/05]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 194 and 286 together.

The nitrates directive was adopted by the EU in 1991 with the objective of reducing water pollution caused or induced by nitrates from agricultural sources. The European Court of Justice delivered a judgment on 11 March 2004 that Ireland was non-compliant with the directive. The main finding was that Ireland had not fulfilled its obligations under the directive by reason of failure to establish and implement an action programme to protect water quality against pollution by farming. Following extensive consultations with the main farming organisations and other interested parties, a nitrates action programme was submitted to the European Commission on 22 October 2004, a copy of which is available in the Oireachtas Library.

In response, the Commission issued a letter of formal notice — an Article 228 letter — of further legal infringement action against Ireland on 22 December 2004. This letter of notice indicated that the Commission did not regard the October 2004 action programme as being complete or compliant with the judgment of the court. It was the view of the Commission that the action programme needed to be strengthened in certain respects, for example, to extend the prohibited periods for landspreading livestock manure and to require additional storage capacity for livestock manure. In addition, it was the view of the Commission that the minimum storage period of 16 weeks then proposed for County Donegal was inappropriate.

Following a series of discussions with the European Commission and consideration of the issues involved by Government, a substantive response to the Article 228 letter was sent to the Commission on 20 April 2005. My Department, in consultation with the Department of Agriculture and Food, is revising the nitrates action programme and a copy will be submitted to the Commission shortly.