Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 158: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the date for farmers spreading slurry in Northern Ireland has been extended to December 2009; and if he will also respond to the request of many farmers here for a similar extension. [35765/09]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 265: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will extend the slurry spreading deadline beyond the 15 October 2009, in view of the wet summer experienced in 2009; if not, the reason he will not do so; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36017/09]

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Question 290: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will give an extension from 16 October to end October 2009 to allow farmers spread slurry on their land; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36349/09]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 158, 265 and 290 together.

The Nitrates Directive and Ireland's National Nitrates Action Programme are given legal effect by the consolidated European Communities (Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of Waters) Regulations 2009. The objective of the Regulations is to protect ground and surface waters, including drinking water sources, primarily through the management of livestock manures and other fertilisers.

Good agricultural practice involves the land spreading of slurry as early as practicable in the growing season in order to maximise the uptake of nutrients by crops and to minimise pollution risks to water courses and groundwaters. In accordance with the requirements of the Nitrates Directive, the Regulations include provisions regarding periods when the land application of certain types of fertilisers is prohibited. In addition, the Regulations prohibit such application at any time of the year when the ground is frozen, waterlogged or heavy rain is forecast.

In view of the prolonged period of favourable weather that has prevailed since September, the risk to water quality posed by an extension to the period for slurry-spreading and the major investment on the part of the State and farmers in the provision of adequate waste storage facilities in recent years, no extension to the spreading periods for organic fertilisers is proposed.

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 159: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to list the cases being taken by the European Union against Ireland in relation to Ireland's failure to transpose or implement European Union directives in environmental law in tabular form; the stages these cases are at; if fines are pending in relation to judgments against Ireland for breaches of environmental law; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35807/09]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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In areas for which my Department has responsibility, the European Commission is currently in correspondence in respect of 31 cases relating to transposition and implementation of EU environmental legislation. My Department is working hard to resolve these cases as soon as possible. The Commission has not made an application to the European Court of Justice for an imposition of fines in any of these cases, and fines have never been imposed on Ireland in relation to an environmental infringement.

I have provided a tabular statement listing the directives involved and setting out the various stages of proceedings in respect of these cases.