Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 June 2020
603. Deputy Marian Harkin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 758 of 3 June 2020, if information will be provided on the specific regulatory measures for MCPA products which have been introduced in recent years as referenced in the response. [12212/20]
View answerMCPA is a herbicide mainly used on grassland for the control of annual and perennial broadleaved weeds. Authorisations for products containing MCPA have been amended in recent years with enhanced measures to protect water quality.
The specific measures introduced in recent years include a reduction of approximately 20% in the maximum allowed application rate for products that only contain MCPA, an extended prohibited use period, running from the end of September until the beginning of March and a mandatory no-spray buffer zone of 5 m along all watercourses.
My Department has also introduced a mandatory product stewardship scheme. This scheme is in force since the start of 2018, making it a regulatory requirement for companies marketing products containing MCPA to participate in a programme of intensive monitoring of raw water in priority drinking water catchment areas for MCPA and chemically similar active substances. The stewardship scheme promotes best practice standards at a national level in relation to the supply and use of MCPA products.
