Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 560: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if, in relation to exclusion zones for the spreading of organic fertiliser and for soiled water relating to a public water supply and abstraction sources of a lake source, the lake edge is the inner boundary of the buffer zone or if it is the physical extraction point in the lake; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6486/07]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The EU Nitrates Directive aims to protect all waters against pollution from agricultural sources. Particular care is required for the protection of public health in the case of waters which serve as the source of drinking water. The European Communities (Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of Waters) Regulations 2006 implement the Directive in Ireland and provide statutory support for good agricultural practice to protect waters against pollution from agricultural sources.

Article 17(2) of the Regulations includes a prohibition on the application to land of organic fertiliser or soiled water within specified distances from watercourses. In the case of lakes generally, the specified distance is 20 metres from the lake shoreline. Additionally, Article 17(2) of the Regulations prohibits the application to land of organic fertiliser or soiled water within specified distances from drinking water abstraction points: in general the specified distance for larger water supply schemes is 200 metres and for smaller supplies is 100 metres or 25 metres, depending on the size of the supply. These distances are measured from the actual abstraction point. These prohibitions are considered essential for the protection of sources of drinking water generally. However, in the case of specific abstraction points which are the subject of prior investigations, Article 17(5)(a) of the Regulations provides that a local authority may, following consultation with the Environmental Protection Agency, specify an alternative distance where the authority is satisfied that it is appropriate for the protection of waters being abstracted at that point.