Ireland’s EU Commissioner Michael McGrath has said the European Commission has recommended to extend the nitrates derogation for Ireland.
The Nitrates Directive is an EU law for farms that puts limits on the amount of fertiliser – including slurry – that farmers can use on their land, and effectively the number of livestock that they can have, to protect water from pollution by agriculture.
The derogation is exclusive to Ireland and allows 7,000 farms to spread more fertiliser and have more animals than other farms in the EU, if Ireland improves the quality of water here.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Mr McGrath said there has been “extensive engagement and co-operation between the Irish authorities and the European Commission on the nitrates directive.
“In the European Commission, we recognise the vital importance of this issue for Irish agriculture.
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“Commissioner Jessika Roswall was here a number of weeks ago, spent quite a bit of time with Minister [for Agriculture Martin] Hayden, met with all of the stakeholders and we have now, as a commission, proposed to extend the derogation under the Nitrates Directive for Ireland.
“That’s not the final step, but it is a significant step. The text will need to be approved by the nitrates committee, which involves the member states of the European Union.
“If they approve it, and they will consider it in the month of December, then it will fall to the European Commission to formally adopt the decision to extend the nitrates derogation,” explained Mr McGrath.
Mr McGrath said he believes the member states will consider it “in the second week of December, and then it will go to the Commission to formally adopt the decision”.
“It is a very significant step, and I want to acknowledge the extensive engagement [of] Minister Hayden, [and] his predecessor, Minister [Charlie] McConalogue.
“But fundamentally this is about the substance of protecting water quality in Ireland and the Irish Government has made extensive efforts and is committed to a programme of investment and a programme of reform and the detail of that will be set out within the decision that hopefully will be formally adopted before Christmas to give certainty to farmers, to give certainty to agri-producers in Ireland and that can also meet our environmental obligations and the obligations we have to clean water,” added Mr McGrath.
Reacting to the decision, the president of the Irish Farmers’ Association said it is critical that any conditions attached to the renewal of Ireland’s nitrates derogation are workable for derogation farmers.
In a statement, Francie Gorman said; “it certainly is a positive development to hear that progress is being made on securing renewal of our derogation.
“However, until we see the terms and conditions attached to any proposed renewal, we don’t know how workable it will be. The devil will be in the detail,” he said.
“A renewal that results in excluding many of the existing derogation farmers from continuing to avail of one or a situation where new entrants cannot secure a derogation in the future has to be avoided at all costs,” Mr Gorman added.
