An information webinar on upcoming changes to rules under the Nitrates Action Programme (NAP) has been organised for next Monday (September 6).
The webinar is being co-hosted by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
The online event will take place from 7:00p.m to 9:00p.m.
The consultation was launched on Monday, August 9, by Ministers Charlie McConalogue and Darragh O’Brien.
The deadline for submissions is September 20.
Ireland’s NAP gives effect to the requirements of the EU’s Nitrates Directive in Ireland and “is a critical piece of legislation that all farmers implement on their farms”, according to a joint statement issued by the two departments when the consultation period was opened.
The NAP includes maximum fertiliser rates; manure storage requirements; and periods when manures cannot be spread, among other regulations.
“It is a cornerstone of the sector’s contribution to meeting the objectives of good water quality in our groundwater, rivers, lakes and estuaries,” the statement said.
However, the proposed changes have drawn the ire of some farm organisations.
The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) said last month that farmers are “furious” with the department’s proposals for the next NAP.
IFA deputy president Brian Rushe said the association will “not allow farmers’ livelihoods to be put at risk because the department has mismanaged the review process, which has resulted in a five-month delay in the consultation process”.
“This is too important an issue for Irish farmers,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) described the proposed changes as ““unnecessarily harsh” and said they seem “aimed at a group of dairy, livestock and tillage farmers”.
The ICMSA accepted that some aspects of the proposed regulations were “unproblematic and would progress issues”, but highlighted that other aspects targeted farmers who “are the backbone of our food exports and rural economy”.