The Joint Oireachtas Agriculture Committee met this week with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue and his officials, to discuss the Nitrates Action Programme (NAP) and its impact on Irish farming.
This meeting, which was chaired by Fianna Fáil T.D. for Tipperary, Jackie Cahill received an update from officials on key aspects of the nitrates programme.
Deputy Cahill stated that he believed the amendments made to the original draft will make it far more “workable” for Irish farmers.
“On the Nitrates Action Programme, the committee supports the fundamental principle of the programme, which is to reduce the environmental impact on surface and groundwater by the farming industry,” the deputy said.
“But there remains a need for far-sighted solutions, and there are still concerns about the impact on farm incomes and the extent to which farmers will be financially supported to implement the new measures.
“Both the Minister for Agriculture and Jack Nolan, the departmental official over the nitrates directive, appeared before the Oireachtas Agriculture Committee this week and gave detailed accounts of where we are at securing both the nitrates directive and a derogation for the next few years,” he added.
Deputy Cahill said he is hopeful that both a derogation and the directive itself will be secured in the near future.
“It was conceded at the meeting that this will bring added expense for farmers and I have repeatedly made the point to the minister that TAMS [Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Scheme] needs to recognise this going forward, and be adapted accordingly,” deputy Cahill continued.
“The draft proposal has been available for some time now and this was originally greeted with considerable worry by farmers the length and breadth of the country.
“I am pleased to see that we are being listened to and that key amendments have been made to this. As a result of this, I am confident that there is a far more workable nitrates programme being formulated.”
Nitrates Action Programme
A public consultation on closed on September 20, 2021.
The NAP includes maximum fertiliser rates; manure storage requirements; and periods when manures cannot be spread, among other regulations.
The current regulations expire at the end of 2021 and a new NAP must be published at the beginning of 2022, with the revised regulations to remain in place until 2025.
However some farm organisations have previously raised concerns about the timeline for approval by Brussels and fear derogation won’t be approved by the end of the year.