Fianna Fail has welcomed the decision to allow farmers to apply for an extension in relation to the slurry spreading deadline, however the party said it is "deeply unfair" that the government seems to be deterring farmers by threatening inspections.

The slurry deadline is Sunday, 15 October.

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Spokesperson on Agriculture Charlie McConalogue said: "The farmers who need to apply for an extension are doing so because they have been unable to spread slurry this summer. We have seen extremely wet weather over the past number of months, particularly along the west coast, with many farmlands remaining waterlogged. It is not feasible to spread slurry in these conditions and now we have situations across the country where farmers have been left with almost full tanks.

"The Department must show flexibility in the terms and conditions of the extension criteria."

(CD)