Written answers

Thursday, 8 March 2007

Department of Agriculture and Food

Farm Waste Management

5:00 pm

Photo of Seymour CrawfordSeymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Question 219: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the number of farmers who have applied under the new farm waste management scheme; the number of applications sanctioned to date; if she has satisfied herself that there is sufficient personnel available in the farm development offices to process the urgent applications where facilities need to be sanctioned and built for pollution control this season; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9233/07]

Photo of Mary CoughlanMary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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48,580 applications were received by my Department under the Farm Waste Management Scheme by the closing date of end-December 2006. This figure includes incomplete applications (e.g. missing the required drawings) and those for which planning permission has either not yet been applied for or is still awaited. Farmers and their advisers have until end-March 2007 to submit the required drawings and, where planning permission is required, to confirm that they have applied for planning permission. Of course, approval to proceed with the works concerned cannot issue until written evidence of the issue of such planning permission has been received by my Department.

To date, approximately 10,600 approvals have been issued to farmers to commence work under the Scheme and revised arrangements are being introduced later this week to speed up the approval process under the Scheme. The staffing levels in the local AES offices of my Department are reviewed on an ongoing basis to ensure that the necessary staffing resources are in place to ensure delivery of the Scheme.

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