Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue is due to outline the case to retain Ireland’s current nitrates derogation to the EU next week.
The minister will hold a video call with European Commissioner for the Environment, Virginijus Sinkevicius, on Monday evening (September 4).
The pair will be joined on the call by officials from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) and the commissioner’s office.
Nitrates derogation
Ireland’s nitrates derogation allows farmers to farm at higher stocking rates, above 170kg livestock manure nitrogen per hectare (N/ha), up to 250kg nitrogen/ha.
Ireland, the Netherlands, Denmark and the Flanders region of Belgium, are the only EU member states in which a derogation is operated.
Around 7,000 Irish farmers avail of the derogation at differing levels.
When the EU Commission granted Ireland’s nitrates derogation for 2022-2025, a requirement was included for Ireland to conduct a two-year review of water quality this year.
This additional conditionality was imposed due to “negative trends” in Irish water quality; the review compared water quality data for 2021 and 2022.
The commission stated that where water quality is poor, or where worsening trends occur over the period 2021-2022, the maximum livestock manure N/ha limit must be reduced from 250kg N/ha to 220kg N/ha from January 2024.
Ireland’s case to maintain the current derogation was dealt a blow in July when a report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) outlined areas of the country in which the derogation will have to be reduced.
The agency outlined that there has been an increase in nutrient concentrations since 2012/2013 in most water types.
“Nitrate concentrations were higher in 2022 than in 2021,” the EPA stated.
The impacted areas will see the derogation limit – currently set at 250kg of N/ha – reduced to 220kg N/ha from January 2024.
It is feared that such a reduction will have a serious economic impact on farmers in these areas.
Minister
Minister Charlie McConalogue previously said that he is seeking “flexibility” from the EU Commission on the nitrates derogation.
Officials from DAFM and Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage have been engaging with the commission in respect of the EPA report and its impact on the Nitrates Action Programme (NAP).
Ahead of next week’s call, the minister has written to Commissioner Sinkevicius outlining how the derogation is part of Ireland’s grass-based system.
The correspondence also included submissions made through the Agriculture Water Quality Working Group.
The group includes representatives of the farm organisations; the agri-food industry; Teagasc; private agricultural consultants; local authorities; An Fóram Uisce; and officials from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, along with DAFM.
It is understood that Commissioner Sinkevicius will indicate whether or not he will consider extending Ireland’s current nitrates derogation after speaking with Minister McConalogue.
If the commissioner agrees to consider an extension, a final decision will be made through a vote by EU member states.