Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 167: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the current status of the nitrate action plan; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26408/05]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The implementation of the nitrates directive is a matter in the first instance for the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. Ireland's national action programme under the nitrates directive was formally submitted to the European Commission by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government on 29 July 2005. The next step is for the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to make regulations to give legal effect to the action programme. My Department, supported by Teagasc, has been assisting the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in finalising these regulations. I expect the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to publish the draft regulations very shortly for public consultation.

The final stage of the process, but an extremely important one, is for Ireland to secure a derogation from the general organic nitrogen limits in the directive so that farmers can operate, under appropriate conditions and controls, up to a level of 250 kg of organic nitrogen per hectare. My Department and Teagasc developed the derogation proposals in consultation with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. There have been preliminary discussions with the Commission about the derogation application and I will be pressing strongly to have these discussions concluded as early as possible in 2006.

To help farmers meet their obligations under the action programme, I am seeking approval from the European Commission for very significant improvements in the farm waste management scheme. These include increasing the grant rate from 40% to 60%, and to 70% in the counties in zone C; a top-up of 5% to 10% for young farmers; higher investment ceilings and the extension of the scheme to the pig and poultry sectors.