IRELAND HAS SECURED a three-year extension to the controversial nitrates derogation.

The move has been welcomed by Agriculture Minister Martin Heydon, who said securing it had been a “key priority” for him and the Government.

However, An Taisce, the National Trust for Ireland, which works to conserve the State’s natural environment, said the decision is “actually shocking”.

“The EPA has long highlighted the dire state of Irish water quality, with recent data demonstrating that half of Irish rivers and 2/3 of estuaries are polluted. Agricultural nitrogen is a major source of this pollution, resulting from animal manure, slurry and fertiliser,” An Taisce said in a statement.

The statement continued: “An Taisce has consistently called on the European Commission to remove the derogation from Ireland which is now the only European state relying on a derogation. Instead, Ireland has been given an extension of the derogation, with business-as-usual set to continue for three full years before any additional environmental assessments kick in.”

Dr Elaine McGoff, head of advocacy with An Taisce, said decisions like this are supposed to be based on science, and the evidence clearly shows Ireland has a “serious water pollution problem that isn’t getting any better”.

“Recent EPA data on water quality is unambiguous. We are going backwards.

“There are fewer waterbodies at good ecological status now than there were three years ago. Simply put, those with responsibility in Ireland have not been holding up our end of the bargain and just keep pushing out the day of reckoning,” McGoff said.

Government wants the derogation long-term

Minister Heydon said he will continue to work with farmers on the task of improving water quality and ensuring that the derogation will continue beyond the current three-year period.

“This must be our priority now as we chart our way forward,” he said.

In a statement, the minister said work will now begin on the next stage of the three-year extension, which will include addressing the conditions of it. 

The extension was approved today by a vote of the EU’s Nitrates Committee, and an ‘implementing decision’ will be adopted by the European Commission in due course.

This will set out the conditions under which Ireland must operate the derogation, including the need to demonstrate enhanced compliance with the Habitats Directive along with several additional requirements from 2028 for derogation farmers in Ireland’s four catchments with the greatest gap to target in terms of nitrogen load reduction.

Minister Heydon said that improving water quality is a “critical part” of continued access to the nitrates derogation, adding that Irish farmers “take their environmental responsibilities very seriously and are on a journey of continuous improvement”.

“This objective is shared by all of industry, stakeholders and farmers. Yesterday the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage signed into law the 6th Nitrates Action Programme, aimed at further strengthening actions by farmers on water quality,” Heydon said.

The EU’s Nitrates Directive is a law relevant to farming, which puts limits on the amount of fertiliser (including slurry) that can be used on land to help limit water pollution from agriculture. Because the law puts a limit on the amount of fertiliser that can be used, it essentially limits the number of livestock that can be held on a piece of land.

Ireland has an exclusive derogation, or an exemption, from the law, but this was due to expire later this year – Something the 7,000 farmers who have benefited from the derogation have been campaigning against. It has also been Government policy to push the EU for an exemption, something environmentalists have been extremely critical of.

The derogation is in place with the understanding that the farmers who get to maintain larger herds, do so in exchange for taking extra steps to protect water quality and the environment.

Earlier this year, the Commission sought assurances on the implementation of the Habitats Directive in respect of derogation farms.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine will now begin the process of conducting catchment level assessments under the Directive.

Heydon said this is a “significant body of work, something we had to commit to as part of securing a derogation and I have consistently identified the need for time and space to ensure a thorough, comprehensive approach to this task”.

He said the Department of Agriculture will engage with stakeholders over the coming three years as this work is undertaken.

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