Vol. 505 No. 3
39 Mr. Connaughton asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the reason for the delay in receiving EU approval for the control of farmyard pollution grants; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that many farmers will not be able to have their new slatted houses built before the end of 1999 even if given approval now; and if his attention has been drawn to the huge interest by farmers in the scheme. [13617/99]
The terms of a nationally funded scheme for the control of farm pollution were drawn up following consultations with the main farming organisations and submitted to the European Commission by my Department in February of this year. The Commission raised a number of issues in relation to the proposals in April and my Department responded to the Commission on these issues. Subsequently, officials met with the Commission earlier this month to deal with outstanding points. Most of the issues are now clarified but some further information was forwarded to the Commission within the last two weeks to allow the approval process to be completed. As a result, I am confident that the scheme will be approved in the near future.
