Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Question 54: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the reason there is a delay in grants for farmers to equip themselves with slurry storage and other necessary means to prevent pollution in view of the fact that the nitrates directive is now law; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5969/06]

Shane McEntee (Meath, Fine Gael)
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Question 67: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food when she intends to introduce new grant rates for farmers under the control of farmyard pollution scheme in view of the increasing cost of steel and the demands which will be placed on farmers due to the nitrates directive; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5607/06]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 54 and 67 together.

EU state aid approval has been sought for a revised farm waste management scheme in order to assist farmers meet the additional requirements of the nitrates directive. Subject to receipt of the required EU approval, the proposed changes include: the introduction of a standard grant rate of 60%, with 70% being available in the four zone C counties, for both animal housing and slurry storage — the current standard grant rate for such work is 40%; the extension of the maximum income unit ceiling for farmers from 450 to 650 income units, with no upper limit being applied in the case of pig and poultry farmers; an increase in the maximum eligible investment ceiling from €75,000 to €120,000 per holding; the removal of any minimum income requirement from farming from the scheme so that all small farmers can participate in the scheme; the extension of the scheme to include horses, deer, goats, pigs and poultry, and mushroom compost; the introduction of a new 40% grant rate for specialised equipment with specific environmental advantages subject to a maximum eligible investment of €80,000 in the case of decanter centrifuge systems and feeding systems for pigs and €40,000 in the case of specialised slurry spreading tankers and related equipment; an increase in the maximum eligible investment for standard mobile equipment from €11,000 to €15,000.

Revised standard costings will be introduced when the scheme is launched to take account of factors such as the increase in steel prices.

Last July, I announced details of the proposed revised scheme. As the approval of the European Commission was required for such, from a state aid perspective, a formal application seeking approval for the revised scheme was submitted to the Commission on 30 September last. The application has been the subject of ongoing negotiations between the Commission and my Department in the intervening period. I recently had a meeting with Commissioner Fischer Boel at which I stressed the importance of this issue to Ireland. I expect that the outstanding issues will be resolved in the near future so that the revised scheme can be introduced at an early date.