Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan has been accused of "gross incompetence" over her handling of the farm-waste issue.
Fine Gael TD Denis Naughton said farmers will not get the level of waste-management grants they were promised by Ms Coughlan.
"These grants were supposed to help farmers cope with the implications of the Nitrates Directive, and now farmers will not get the level of funding they need to help them comply with this regulation," he said.
Mr Naughton said that the effects of the Nitrates Directive will force thousands of farmers out of business.
The directive comes into force on February 1st; under it farmers will have to limit the use of fertilisers to protect water quality in the State.
However, farmers claim that commercial operators and pig and poultry farmers will not be able to survive at the rate demanded by the EU - 170/kg per hectare of nitrogen.
"Last year, the Minister assured farmers that the maximum level of grant aid would be available until 2008; we now learn that it will only apply for 2006," Mr Naughton said.
"With no grant application process yet in place and no agreement with Brussels farmers won't even get the chance to apply for this scheme in 2006. They won't be able have any planning requirements with local authorities fulfilled, never mind have the development completed, before the higher grant levels are taken away," he added.
