Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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292. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will address the concerns raised by persons (details supplied) in view of a proposed ban on splash plates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21107/17]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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To maximise nitrogen uptake, slurry should be applied on cool, overcast or misty days. Good agronomic advice is to apply as much slurry as possible in the springtime to maximise the fertiliser nitrogen value of slurry. Spring applied slurry is worth approximately 3 units of nitrogen per 1,000 gallons extra compared with summer application. Since the introduction of the Nitrates Regulations in 2006 there has been a significant increase in the volume of slurry applied in springtime rather than at other times of the year. The regulations require farmers achieve high levels of nitrogen use efficiency from slurry and this can only be achieved by applying slurry in the right weather conditions (cool, overcast, misty conditions).

The Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment recently launched a public consultation to inform the development of a National Clean Air Strategy. The consultation document identified the main issues in relation to air quality and emission sources. It recognised that the spreading of slurry can, depending on the timing of the application and the weather conditions, result in nitrogen loss from slurry to the atmosphere through ammonia volatilisation. That Department will conduct a thorough examination of all submissions received as part of its consultation phase.

On foot of farmer demand to improve the utilisation of slurry as a fertiliser, my Department is assisting farmers under TAMS in the purchase of Low Emission Slurry Spreading equipment such as the trailing shoe. In addition a significant cohort of farmers have applied under the GLAS scheme to apply slurry using low emission equipment.