The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine will resume its discussion on the Nitrates Action Programme (NAP) later today (Wednesday, October 13).

The committee will also discuss the EU’s Nitrates Directive and water quality monitoring.

Officials from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), will attend.

The committee will meet in two separate sessions, beginning at 5:30p.m today. The meeting will be broadcast from Committee Room 3 of Leinster House.

The EPA officials will be there to discuss water quality monitoring, while the department officials will discuss the NAP.

Ireland’s current NAP is under review at the moment and a new NAP is due to be published at the beginning of 2022.

Speaking ahead of this evening’s meeting, committee chairperson Jackie Cahill said: “The committee welcomes the opportunity to discuss the Nitrates Directive and water quality with the EPA at today’s meeting.

“It is important that the relevant agencies, the agriculture sector and farmers work together to ensure that our water systems, lakes, rivers and estuaries are in good condition and that everyone works to curb the human impact as much as possible.”

“The committee and I are very supportive of the fundamental principle of the NAP. But to reiterate our previous concerns, short-sighted policy changes may have long-term effects on our agriculture sector and farming industry. There is a need for long-sighted solutions,” Cahill argued.

He added: “There is still concerns about the impact on farm incomes and the extent to which farmers will be financially supported to implement the new measures.

“We look forward to meeting the department today to discuss these and the important policy changes,” the Fianna Fáil Tipperary TD concluded.

The meeting can be viewed on Oireachtas TV.

The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine has 14 members; nine from the Dáil and five from the Seanad.