Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon has said that there are some areas of the country in which the government will not be able to approve nitrates derogations for farmers in the future.

The minister was speaking at the AgRenew Ireland Summit in Naas, Co. Kildare today (Thursday, November 5).

In his speech to the event the minister touched on several areas, including water quality.

He noted the new challenge with Ireland's current nitrates derogation - which was granted by the European Commission late last year - which requires the government to carry out assessments under the EU's Habitats Directive as well as the Water Frameworks Directive.

This, according to the minister, means that some areas of the country may lose out on derogations in the future, even if Ireland as a whole retains the derogation again in the future.

Minister Heydon told the AgRenew event: "The commission has been clear...that the implementing decision to grant a derogation was dependant on completing environmental assessments under the Habitats and Water Framework Directives.

"This conditionality arises following European Court decisions," he explained.

"From the outset, I have been clear that this was a significant task and required time to complete. I am very committed to transparency in this process and to that end, we have already published a Catchment Overview Report for each of the 46 river catchments nationally," Minister Heydon said.

"This will be followed early next year by publication of 583 Sub-Catchment Overview Reports providing greater localised insights into the data and datasets that will form the basis for the assessments," he added.

The minister said he did not want to "prejudice the outcome" of this process.

However, he added: "Arising from this process, it is important to acknowledge that there will be areas where we may not be able to approve derogation applications in the future."

He said farmers will need to be given time to adjust to this situation.

"It will be important that farmers are given time to adjust their farming in such circumstances and I remain committed to a transparent and collaborative process," Minister Heydon added.

"Critically, we must continue progress on improving water quality which is essential, and there is significant government support available to farmers in this regard," he said.