Minister for the Environment Dick Roche has indicated that, in the face of strong pressure from farming organisations, he is reluctant to allow a significant relaxation of new limits on the amount of fertilisers and slurry farmers are permitted to spread on their land.
Yesterday Mr Roche said that new scientific advice from the State agricultural advisory body, Teagasc, which will advocate easing the limits in certain areas, would have to be very strong for him to make any changes to the controversial nitrates directive regulations.
The regulations stipulate limits for the spreading on farmland of nitrates and phosphorus, the main causes of freshwater pollution in Ireland. The regulations effectively limit the amount of animal slurry farmers are allowed to spread on their land and stipulate the times it can be spread.
Farming organisations have claimed that the regulations are unworkable, and last month, along with a number of other farming bodies, walked out of the social partnership talks in protest at the regulations which were introduced in December.
The Government is facing daily fines by the European Court if it fails to comply with the directive, which is now 15 years old.
In January Teagasc announced it was reviewing its scientific advice in relation to phosphorus limits and certain aspects of the nitrates regulations, claiming that the regulations introduced by the State were too harsh in parts and that it would produce new scientific advice to support an easing of the phosphorus limits.
Following this, Mr Roche and the European Commission agreed to a temporary stay on the regulations pending the new advice.
That advice, which also recommends an easing of nitrates restrictions for certain smaller farmers, is to be presented to the Teagasc board later today and will then be forwarded to the Department of the Environment.
Mr Roche, who is also due to address the Seanad later today, said that while he did not want to prejudge the Teagasc advice, it was simply not realistic to think that what had gone before could be torn up.
"If the advice is to up the limits, you're going to have to have some very strong scientific advice for it," he said.
His department has spent two years negotiating and discussing a plan which was acceptable to the commission and will avoid the State facing heavy daily fines.
Mr Roche said he was not willing to propose any changes that would still have to be passed by the European Commission.
"We're not going to change something where we have been given a lot of support from the commission," he said. "If you can produce something in March that wasn't there in December, it has to be very persuasive science. Otherwise you lose credibility."