Vol. 518 No. 5
117 Mr. B. Smith asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the measures, if any, he will be putting in place to encourage and facilitate on-farm investments to improve competitiveness in production and to improve environmental standards; the interim position between the end of existing measures and the phasing in of new schemes under the national development plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12292/00]
Under the National Development Plan, 2000-06, provision has been made for an amount of £167 million for a scheme of farm waste management and for an amount of £33 million in respect of a scheme for improvement of dairy hygiene standards.
These measures will form part of the new regional operational programmes for the Border, midland and western region and the southern and eastern region. The programmes are now being drafted under the responsibility of the respective regional assemblies and will shortly be formally submitted to the European Commission for approval. The negotiation process is expected to take a number of months and consequently the measures are unlikely to come on stream until later in the year.
In the meantime, it is intended that the national scheme for the control of farm pollution and the national scheme of investment aid for the improvement of dairy hygiene standards will remain in operation and open to applications.
