MEP Billy Kelleher has appealed for European Commissioners to visit Ireland ahead of their decision on whether the nitrates derogation will be reduced to 220kg/ha.
Kelleher has made the appeal to European Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans and Agriculture Commissioner Janus Wojciechowski requesting that they visit Ireland before any decision is made on a possible extension to Ireland’s nitrates derogation.
The implementing decision of the European Commission is that where water quality is poor, or where worsening trends occur over the period 2021-2022, the maximum livestock manure nitrogen (N)h per hectare limit must be reduced from 250kg N/ha to 220kg N/ha from January 2024.
Kelleher said: “Moving from 250kg of organic nitrogen per hectare to 220kg/ha would cause major challenges for the Irish dairy sector.
“In the first instance, many dairy farmers currently under derogation would have to reduce their herd numbers. This would limit farm income causing significant challenges in terms of repayment of debt.”
The MEP said the change to the nitrates derogation “would also have a serious impact on Ireland’s agri-food sector that is reliant on a consistent volume of national milk production”.
Since the publication of the government strategy ‘Food Harvest 2020’, Kelleher said “successive Irish governments have promoted dairying, and its expansion”.
Decision on derogation change
Kelleher announced that he had extended an invite to the European Commissioners and said “we need to allow more time for these measures to take full effect before a decision on the nitrates derogation is made”.
“I’ve invited vice-president Timmermans and Commissioner Wojciechowski to visit Ireland and to meet with the farmers who will be severely impacted by the loss of the derogation, and to also meet with the wider dairying and agri-food sector to hear their views and thoughts.”
The MEP, in a letter to the executive vice-president, said: “Commissioner, I believe that before the commission makes its decision on the extension of the derogation, you and your colleagues should visit Ireland to see firsthand the work that is ongoing by our farmers and by those working in the agri-food sector to make dairying more environmentally sustainable.”
A recent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report showed that nitrate concentrations are too high in 40% of river sites and in 20% of estuarine and coastal water bodies, which are found mainly in the south and southeast of the country.
Kelleher said the recent water quality review carried out by the EPA shows that “despite the major increase in dairying in recent years” our water quality has not worsened.
“This, to my mind, shows that the strong mitigation measures that farmers have put in place have worked,” he said.
“What the vote on the Nature Restoration Law tells me is that the European Commission needs to start listening to farmers and not stay insulated in their ivory towers in Brussels,” he said.