Heydon: Steps to address water quality issues at 'advanced stage'
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon said the agriculture sector continues to set higher targets when it comes to water quality.
A report published today (Wednesday, June 17) by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found "overall water quality remains unsatisfactory in many areas".
The agency said nutrient levels remain too high in "a large proportion of water bodies" and while improvements do occur, they are not being sustained.
The EPA said the main reason for the lack of progress is "ongoing pollution from nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus".
The agency said "targeted action and measures tailored to the specific challenges affecting each water body must be accelerated".
Water quality
Speaking to the media in Portlaoise today, Minister Heydon accepted that a sustained reduction in nutrient losses to water bodies is needed to improve water quality.
"Two-thirds of our landmass in Ireland is agriculture based, so it's not surprising a key pressure on our water comes from the agriculture side.
"The steps we're taking across agriculture to address that, to minimise that impact, to reverse trends is at a really advanced stage. But we continue to set higher targets for ourselves all the time.
"Derogation farmers have signed up to additional conditionality that has come into place around nutrient storage and around reducing our use of chemical fertilisers," he said.
Minister Heydon said the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) is investing "really significantly" to improve water quality.
He stressed the importance of the work taking place on farms to reduce agriculture’s impact on waterbodies.
Minister Heydon highlighted the €60 million Farming for Water European Innovation Partnership (EIP).
To date, over 5,500 farmers have applied for financial support for specific targeted water quality actions under the programme.
He pointed to the Agricultural Sustainability Support and Advisory Programme (ASSAP) which provides a free advisory service to farmers to help improve water quality.
The minister also noted that funding is also available through the Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Schemes (TAMS 3) for manure storage and low emission slurry spreading (LESS) equipment.
Minister Heydon said that farmers are "continuously striving to make sure that the impact of their farming activity has a positive impact on the environment around them, including in the area of water quality".
ICMSA
Meanwhile the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association (ICMSA) said the report showed that "the process of farmer engagement is well underway, while also clearly identifying those areas – both geographically and by sector – where effort must be directed".
ICMSA president Denis Drennan said "Irish water quality was still amongst the best in Europe and ICMSA was confident that the progress made so far could – and would – be improved upon as science and best practice delivered results".
