Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue has confirmed that he will not go back to Brussels to discuss the decision on Ireland’s nitrates derogation.
Instead, he highlighted the need for a clear focus on actions that will deliver improvements in water quality so Ireland has a “strong hand” to play in renewing the derogation in 2025.
Of the 7,000 derogation farmers, just over 3,000 are currently between 220kg of organic nitrogen (N) per hectare and 250kg N/ha and would therefore be impacted by the lower limit, he said.
The minister sought to provide clarity on Ireland’s nitrates derogation in a meeting with the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine today (Friday, September 15).
Mapping
EU Commissioner for the Environment Virginijus Sinkevicius sought a threshold below 220kg N/ha, the minister, who said that he “fought hard” to get it up to 220kg N/ha, clarified.
Minister McConalogue also confirmed that there will be two different zones in the country at 220kg N/ha and at 250kg N/ha based on a map by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
He added that the commissioner identified some “very limited scope, within the strict confines of the existing commission decision, to interpret elements of the mapping”.
However, he told the agri committee that the impacts of this exercise will be “marginal” and that it would be “misleading and wrong” to suggest otherwise.
In terms of this potential flexibility around mapping, he said that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has committed to concluding this by the end of this month.
The map including, red and white zones, identifies areas where the commission’s water quality review criteria showed that additional measures as part of the conditions of Ireland’s derogation are needed.
Nitrates derogation
Addressing the “absolute need” for all stakeholders to work together on the shared objective of securing a renewal of the current derogation from 2026 onwards, the minister said:
“Ireland’s derogation is an exception to EU rules provided for in the Nitrates Directive.
“It cannot be taken for granted and it must be recognised that water quality improvement must be at the heart of Ireland’s robust defence of our derogation facility.
“It will never have been more critical that government, industry and farmers all work together over the next two years to deliver water quality improvements and facilitate maintaining the derogation at the maximum limit possible.”
The DAFM will issue interim 2023 N and phosphorous (P) statements to all farmers in the coming days. These figures will be based on cattle numbers on farm up to the end of August, he said.
“I understand and very much appreciate the challenge this change represents for those farmers [that] are impacted, however it is important that I also outline there are actions that impacted farmers can take.
“Farmers will be supported through this period. My department has engaged directly with Teagasc and the private consultants this week to provide farmers with the necessary assistance to manage their way through this period,” he said.