Jack Wall
Ceist:37 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the position in regard to the proposed nitrates directive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22585/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraThursday, 30 September 2004
Ceisteanna (41)
Freagraí scríofa
Council Directive 91/676/EEC, commonly known as the nitrates directive, has been implemented in Ireland by way of extensive monitoring of nitrate levels in waters, the assessment of the trophic status of waters, the development and dissemination in 1996 of a code of good agricultural practice to protect waters from pollution by nitrates and a range of other measures which operate to protect water quality from pollution by agricultural sources.
These other measures include the provision of funding under schemes administered by the Department of Agriculture and Food, DAF, such as the control of farmyard pollution scheme, the rural environment protection scheme and the farm waste management scheme to support expenditure by farmers in meeting on measures for pollution control and environmental protection standards. They also include bye-laws made by local authorities under the Local Government (Water Pollution) Acts, a wide range of implementation and enforcement actions taken by local authorities under those Acts, the progressive extension of the integrated pollution control licensing system operated by the EPA to apply to a wider range of intensive agricultural activities, and the introduction of requirements for compliance with good farming practice in the context of EU-funded direct payments to farmers under agri-assistance schemes administered by DAF. Under the single farm payment scheme, which will replace a number of existing direct payment schemes from January 2005, farmers will be required to comply with a number of EU legislative provisions including the nitrates directive.
Extensive discussions with the main farming organisations and other interests have taken place since December 2001 as to the further implementation of the nitrates directive. In February 2002, my Department issued an information paper on good agricultural practice and protection of the environment, which set out the background issues and the preferred approach of applying an action programme to all areas rather than to designated vulnerable zones. Consistent with the approach set out in the paper, the European Communities (Protection of Waters Against Pollution from Agricultural Sources) Regulations 2003 identified the whole territory of Ireland as the area to which an action programme will be developed and applied for the purposes of the nitrates directive.
A draft national action programme for further implementation of the directive was prepared by my Department, jointly with DAF and in consultation with Teagasc, and was issued for consultation on 19 December 2003. Some 70 submissions were received from interested parties and a revised draft was prepared having regard to the submissions received. The revised draft was made available on 9 July 2004 to interested parties in a second round of consultation. An independent adviser was appointed to consider the comments received and to make a report to me with recommendations regarding the provisions of the draft programme.
I understand some 50 submissions have been received and I hope to receive the report and recommendations of the independent adviser shortly. The draft action programme will then be revised as necessary and submitted to the EU Commission. The action programme will be implemented on a phased basis with effect from 1 January 2005 and will operate for a period of four years.
The directive requires the application of a general landspreading limit of 170 kg of organic nitrogen per hectare per annum and the action programme must reflect this requirement which is underpinned by recent judgments of the European Court of Justice. However, in accordance with the commitment given in Sustaining Progress, an application is being made to the European Commission for approval to apply higher limits — up to 250 kg per hectare per annum in appropriate circumstances — in relation to the landspreading of organic nitrogen. The case for this derogation is being developed by DAF and Teagasc in consultation with my Department.
A comprehensive guidance document on the requirements of the action programme is being prepared by DAF and will be distributed to farmers and other stakeholders. This document will explain the requirements of the action programme in detail and provide specific advice on good farming practice in respect of each measure specified in the action programme.