I am aware of the recent review prepared by the economic and development review committee of the OECD, entitled "OECD Economic Surveys 1998-1999, Ireland". Among the environmental issues referred to in the OECD report are the disposal of hazardous waste and the restraint of greenhouse gas emissions.
Under Part II of the National Waste Management Act, 1996, the Environmental Protection Agency is required to prepare a national hazardous waste management plan, a draft of which will be published this summer for public consultation. This plan will identify sources of hazardous waste and make recommendations for prevention, collection, recovery and disposal of such wastes. National policy in relation to the management of such wastes, including those originating in the agriculture sector, will be determined when the national hazardous waste management plan is adopted formally by the Environmental Protection Agency.
The position regarding greenhouse gas emissions is that Ireland has committed itself to the restraint of such emissions as a result of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and based on an internal sharing at EU level. Ireland has to hold the increase in greenhouse gas emissions in 2008-12 to 13 per cent above our 1990 levels, while the overall EU level must be cut by 8 per cent. A national abatement strategy is being developed by the Minister for the Environment and Local Government in consultation with other Departments, including my Department. To ensure my Department can play a full part in the development of the abatement strategy, I have established an expert group on greenhouse gases, which includes representatives from the EPA, Teagasc, the IFA, the ICMSA, and UCD, to examine the impact of the agricultural sector on greenhouse gas emissions and to consider possible action which might be pursued in the agriculture sector with the aim of securing greenhouse gas emission over the next decade.
The recent Agenda 2000 agreement provides that member states may include minimum environmental conditions for the receipt of direct payments in respect of agricultural production. While the detailed rules governing this measure have not yet been agreed, it is likely that producers getting direct payments will have to follow good farming practice.
Some 43,000 farmers are currently participating in the rural environmental protection scheme. Participation in REPs is regarded as going beyond good farming practice. The scheme will play an important part in addressing environmental issues in the agricultural sector, with a significant increase in the number of participants expected in the coming years.
