The European Commission’s decision on nitrates will cause “huge damage” to the dairy sector, according to the chair of the Joint Oireachtas Committee for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Fianna Fáil TD, Jackie Cahill.
The committee met in Brussels this week to discuss the derogation, along with nature restoration and forestry.
The Tipperary TD said he is “extremely disappointed” with the announcement from the commission, that it will not revisit Ireland’s nitrates derogation, and described it as “regressive”.
“It will mean that capacity in the processing system will not be used and it will seriously threaten the viability of the Irish family farm structure,” Deputy Cahill said.
He added that it would be “impossible” to convince young farmers to enter the industry as a result of the decision.
“The European Commission has failed to see the fact that the Irish grass based system makes us the most sustainable producers of dairy on the planet.
“They have failed to differentiate our green farming model from that of vastly different models across the continent,” Cahill said.
Nitrates
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue is meeting with farm organisations today (Thursday, September 7) to discuss the nitrates derogation and scheme payment dates.
However, the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has said that it will not attend the meeting and will instead stage a protest on Kildare Street in Dublin.
Meanwhile, Senator Tim Lombard, who is also in Brussels this week, said the news was “a real blow to all involved”.
He aims to outline the impact of the decision during an in-person meeting this afternoon with EU Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius.
“There is a strong and credible case to be made on behalf of Irish farmers and I will still make that case today.
“But it is deeply disappointing and frustrating that we didn’t get to do so before Minister McConalogue’s meeting on Monday,” Senator Lombard said.
“It’s like a perfect storm for dairy farmers right now. We’ve seen the price of milk fall from high 50s to mid 30c/L. Now effectively, there will be a cap placed on the production of milk.
“How does Minister McConalogue propose to bridge this gap? We need a vision and policy for this industry which is so crucial to this country,” Senator Lombard added.