Liz McManus
Ceist:327 Ms McManus asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry if he intends to deal with the ongoing problems of slurry spreading that are experienced in rural areas. [648/94]
Written Answers. - Spreading of Farm Waste.
My Department and Teagasc advise farmers to spread slurry at a time and in such a way as to ensure that no environmental damage occurs.
Under the recently launched control of farm pollution scheme, participants in the scheme must not spread farm waste, including slurry, between 1 November and 31 January each year and must undertake to empty their storage tanks by 31 October each year. These requirements are aimed at reducing pollution problems of slurry spreading to a minimum. Also farmers in the new rural environmental protection scheme (REPS) are required to have an environmentally satisfactory waste management plan prepared for their farm. This of course would cover the proper application rates and spreading time of slurry.
There is an environmental pollution control regime provided for in the Air and Water Pollution Acts, which the local authorities operate under the aegis of the Department of the Environment. If the Deputy has particular instances in mind she could bring them to the attention of the local authority concerned.