The EU Commission has rejected some Irish proposals that seek to reduce the levels of pollution in drinking water from farm waste.
The commission said that the Irish nitrates programme is not a 'complete and compliant' response to what is required.
The Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, said he was disappointed at the commission's response.
Mr Roche said the programme represented a tremendous amount of work and consensus by the farming community and Government departments.
The programme was produced in response to a request from the EU to deal with the amount of pollution produced in Ireland by agriculture.
The proposals, which were submitted to Brussels last October, sought to cut down on animal waste by reducing cattle numbers, limiting the time of year when slurry is spread, better storage of slurry and putting stricter controls on spreading slurry near water courses.
It is understood that the EU is unhappy with several of the proposals including animal stocking densities, the proposed zones for manure spreading and the duration of the storage periods.
Reacting to the proposals' rejection, the IFA leader, John Dillon, said the Irish action plan was based on scientific advice and best practice recommended by Teagasc.
Mr Dillon said that, as far as the IFA is concerned, the proposals were accepted by the recommendation of the independent arbiter, Denis Brosnan, and they stand over them.
