Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Question 24: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the principal features of the second national action plan under the nitrates directive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45056/10]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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All EU member States are obliged to draw up and implement a National Action Programme under the Nitrates Directive in order to ensure that water quality is not adversely affected by agricultural activity. The principal features of Ireland's second National Action Programme (NAP) are similar to those in the first Action Programme and include provisions in relation to farm stocking rates, fertiliser application, storage requirements for livestock manure and maintenance of green cover on tillage lands.

The main changes in the second National Action Programme include:

the introduction of a site-specific, risk-based approach for set-back distances around drinking water abstraction points; previously the set-back distance was based solely on the volume of water being abstracted and it took no account of other factors such as soil, subsoil and bedrock type;

a buffer zone for the application of chemical fertiliser within 2 metres of a watercourse (previously 1.5 metres);

new rules on baled silage;

increases in the maximum nitrogen and phosphorus fertilisation rates for cereal crops (including a measure to address the issue of low protein levels in malting barley);

a time-limited extension for transitional arrangements covering the use of pig and poultry manure and spent mushroom compost; revision of certain dates where the establishment of green cover is required.

I am confident that the overall package of measures, including the renewal of the Nitrates derogation, will assist Ireland's agri-food sector meet its targets under the Food Harvest 2020 strategy on the basis of sustainable farming practices in these economically challenging times.