Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 122: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the aspects of the nitrates directive Ireland which were found to be in breach by the European Court of Justice in 2004; if she will make a statement on the matter of the lessons her Department has learned as a result of its contribution to the situation in which Ireland found itself in breach of so many aspects of a directive that should have been implemented 11 years prior to the aforementioned judgment; the steps she has taken to ensure her Department never again has responsibility for so many breaches of one EU directive in the future; if she has caused an audit of her Department's performance in implementing the nitrates directive to be carried out; if not, when she plans to cause one to be carried out. [12226/06]

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. The European Court of Justice delivered a judgment on 11 March 2004 that Ireland was non-compliant with the nitrates directive. The main finding was that Ireland had not fulfilled its obligations under the directive by reason of its failure to establish and implement an action programme in accordance with Article 5 of the directive to protect water quality against pollution by farming. The text of the judgement has been published.