Peter Power (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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Question 51: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food her views on progress on the introduction of the new farm waste management scheme to assist farmers meet the requirements of the nitrates directive. [12199/06]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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Following receipt of the required EU state aid approval, the revised farm waste management scheme to assist farmers meet the additional requirements of the nitrates directive was launched by my Department on 24 March 2006. Application forms, together with the accompanying terms and conditions, are available from the local agricultural environment and structures, AES, offices of my Department and are also available from my Department's website.

I am pleased that the negotiations with the EU Commission in relation to this scheme have now come to a satisfactory conclusion and I would like to pay particular tribute to Commissioner Fischer Boel for her assistance in this regard. I would also like to express my thanks to the various representative bodies for their assistance in drafting the terms of the new scheme.

I remind farmers that, as the current EU rural development round closes at the end of this year, applications can only be accepted under the revised scheme up to the end of 2006. In view of this short time-frame, I have decided that applications can be accepted by my Department as soon as any required planning permission has been applied for to the relevant local authority. I urge farmers to take the necessary steps to ensure that participation in the scheme is not made impossible by the late submission of completed applications.