Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 256: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the impact which tree felling is having on phosphate levels in rivers here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3738/09]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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The release of phosphate to receiving waters following tree felling is only associated with clearfelling on peat soils. It is not associated with thinning and is not associated with mineral soils. (Clearfelling occurs at the end of the forest cycle, usually at age 30 years and greater). Significant increases have been recorded in drains and in small, first order, streams rather than in rivers.

The magnitude of the release depends on factors such as the size of the area that is clearfelled in relation to the total catchment, the rainfall patterns in the period following clearfelling, the presence or not of vegetated buffer zones between the clearfell and aquatic zones, the drainage network and, in particular, whether or not the drainage network connects directly to the aquatic zone and the proximity of the felling to the receiving waters.

The above risks are associated with plantations established before 1990 as the Forestry and Fisheries Guidelines, introduced in 1990 and amended in 2000, require the installation of vegetated buffer zones in new plantations and that new drains would not connect directly with aquatic zones.