The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has published overview reports for each of the country's 46 river catchments.

The department said these reports will form the basis of environmental assessements which are an "important part" of the EU decision to grant Ireland's nitrates derogation.

In December, the European Commission granted an extension to Ireland's derogation for a further three years from 2026 to 2028, subject to a number of additional conditions.

One of the most significant conditions is that Ireland must undertake environmental assessments under the Habitats Directive and Water Framework Directive on the impact of granting individual nitrates derogations.

These assessments must be completed by 2028 at the latest.

6,797 farmers applied for the nitrates derogation in Ireland for 2026, which is a decrease of over 300 applicants compared to the previous year.

The department noted that "as the only EU member state now in receipt of a nitrates derogation, it is vital that Ireland complies with this requirement".

Assessments

The need for more detailed assessments followed a ruling by the European Court of Justice in a nitrates case against the Netherlands.

The court ruled that grazing cattle and spreading fertiliser on land in the vicinity of Natura 2000 sites may be classified as a "project".

The granting of individual nitrates derogations by DAFM is considered a "project" and is therefore subject to the appropriate assessment requirements of the Habitat’s Directive.

DAFM has determined that undertaking screening and assessments at a sub-catchment scale is "the optimum approach".

There are 46 catchments in Ireland identified under the Water Framework Directive, with these catchments further divided into 583 sub-catchments.

While there are some 600 sites in Ireland designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive.

"This approach balances the need to conduct assessments at local scale with the need to avoid having to do individual farm level assessments on approximately 7,000 farms," the department said.

Reports

The catchment overview reports provide information on the data and datasets being considered for each assessment, including ecological, environmental and agricultural data.

The department said the reports "bring transparency to the assessment process and form a basis for further stakeholder engagement and understanding"

It stressed that "these reports do not interpret or pass any judgement on those data or pre-empt the outcome of the environmental assessment in any way".

The department said it will carry out the sub-catchment scale assessments at "no cost to farmers".

A multi-disciplinary project team has been established within the department to manage the assessments.

The department said the primary focus of risk mitigation measures would be to address the potential pressures associated with grazing and nutrients.

DAFM assessments

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon said: “During the derogation negotiation process, I was always clear the environmental assessments being sought will take time and as a result we have until 2028 to complete that process.

"Publication of the 46 catchment overview reports is part of that process.

"Given the scale and significance of this task, as well as the time required between now and when the assessments will become available, I am committed to continued stakeholder engagement, two-way communication and factual information being shared as early as possible," he said.

Water

Under the Water Framework Directive all water bodies, with some minor exceptions, are meant to be in "at least good ecological status" by 2027.

However, the department said that "no EU member state will achieve this".

Currently in Ireland just over half (52%) of our surface waters are in "at least good ecological status".