Some EU member states view Ireland’s nitrates derogation as a “competitive advantage” for farmers here, according to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.
The Taoiseach made the comment at the annual general meeting (AGM) of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) at the Radisson Blu Hotel on the border of counties Clare and Limerick.
Ahead of a meeting with the European Commissioner for the Environment Virginijus Sinkevicius next week on the issues of the derogation and water quality, the Taoiseach spoke about the challenges Ireland faces in retaining a derogation at all.
The derogation allows farmers to farm at organic nitrogen (N) stocking rates up to 250kgN/ha. However, the derogation will be reduced to 220kgN/ha in most of the country from January. The organic N stocking rate limit without a derogation is 170kgN/ha.
The Taoiseach told ICMSA members: “In terms of the derogation, objective number one is to make sure we keep the derogation. Bear in mind that it’s not our decision, it’s an EU decision, and there are 27 member countries that will decide whether we can keep that derogation or not.
“They don’t have one, and some see it as a competitive advantage for Irish farmers. That’s not how I see it, but it is how some of them see it,” he added.
“So we need to be smart in terms of doing everything we can to make sure we can convince our colleagues to keep that derogation in place,” the Taoiseach commented.
“When it comes to the current changes (from 250kgN/ha to 220kgN/ha), we’re very keen to meet the commissioner next week and do everything we can to explore any wriggle room and any flexibility we can find that will make things easier for [farmers].
“But we don’t want to make false promises, or raise expectations that perhaps we won’t be able to deliver on next week, but we’ll be doing everything we can,” he added.
The Taoiseach also told the farmers in attendance that “the smartest thing, the cleverest thing, farmers can do around climate change is to make some of the changes that make sense, and to start to bring down emissions”.
“Emissions fell last year, I think they will probably fall this year as well, and if farmers can get into the space where agricultural emissions are falling by maybe 1% or 2% a year, then the focus goes off farming and goes onto other areas where maybe that’s not happening, for example maybe in transport, maybe in the built environment,” he said.
“Wouldn’t you like to be in a position in a few years time to say to [Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan], if he is still minister for transport, or to the next minister of transport: ‘Well, we’ve actually reduced our emissions every year for three years, our emissions in agriculture have gone down by 1% or 2% a year for the past three years. You haven’t done that in transport, you haven’t done that in energy’.
“But to be able to make that case in a winning sense, that has to be true, and that’s the approach I would encourage you to adopt,” the Taoiseach added.