Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 403: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food if, in view of the Government policy of rural proofing and due to the fact that all Government policies have to be rural proofed, the way in which this can be reconciled with the recent nitrates and phosphate programme of the Government, particularly in view of the decimation of the pig industry that will follow from the programme agreed by the Government under the nitrates directive. [4338/06]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The implementation of the nitrates directive is a matter for the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in the first instance. The regulations to give legal effect to the nitrates action programme were signed by the Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government last December and came into effect on 1 February 2006.

Last month, Teagasc, the State body responsible for providing the science on which the technical aspects of the regulations are based, indicated that it may be possible to review part of this advice in a way that could improve the effectiveness of the regulations, particularly with regard to phosphorus usage. The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and I have made it clear that, if scientifically robust information can be brought forward, then the Government will make a case to the European Commission for revising the current limits.

As a result of these developments, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government announced that the implementation of Part 3 of the regulations, dealing with nutrient planning, will be deferred for a number of weeks. Any amendments required to the regulations will be made following completion of the review and will require the agreement of the European Commission.

I have previously outlined a number of important measures that my own Department has taken to alleviate the impact of the nitrates regulations on the farming sector. The Sustaining Progress agreement included a number of commitments related to the nitrates directive and these have all been delivered in the form of improvements to the farm waste management scheme and the dairy hygiene scheme and substantially increased REPS payments. In addition, EU approval is now being sought for further substantial improvements to the farm waste management scheme.