Ryan O'Meara (Tipperary North, Fianna Fail)
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486. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the legislation and regulations relevant to the spreading of sewage sludge on farmland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57192/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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The application of sewage sludge and biosolids to land is regulated under S.I. No. 148 of 1998 – Waste Management (Use of Sewage Sludge in Agriculture) Regulations, 1998 as amended by S.I. 267 of 2001, which is within the remit of the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment. The timing of the application of organic fertilisers to land, and the amount of nutrients permitted to be applied, are regulated under S.I. 113 of 2022 - the European Union (Good Agricultural Practice for the Protection of Water) Regulations 2022, as amended, (GAP Regulations), the responsibility for which lies within my Department. The GAP Regulations implement the regulatory measures included in the Fifth Nitrates Action Programme, and the public consultation on the draft Sixth Nitrates Action Programme, which is to be in place from January 2026, will open shortly.