Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 July 2026
28. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the actions his Department is taking to prepare for 1 January 2028, and the European Commission's implementing decision on nitrates derogation; if Ireland is on target to maintain the present status, allowing eligible farms to stock above the standard EU limit of 170kg organic nitrogen/ha; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52036/26]
View answerOn the 9th of December last year EU Member States unanimously voted in favour of a European Commission proposal granting a three-year extension to Ireland’s Nitrates Derogation subject to additional conditions.
In light of evolving case law, as part of this approval, the Commission directed that Ireland must undertake assessments on the impact granting individual nitrates derogations may have on the objectives set under the Habitats and Water Framework Directives.
The requirement for such a large number of complex environmental assessments, to be completed by the end of 2028, is significant.
However, the Government is committed to completing these assessments as required and my Department, working in consultation with other Government Departments and State Agencies, is devoting significant resources to operationalising these assessments.
In line with the current collaborative approach to improving water quality, the Government remains focussed on continued stakeholder engagement throughout this process. By way of example, I outlined progress in this regard to Commissioner Roswell during her visit in June. Last week, the Agriculture Water Quality Working Group, established by my Department in 2023, also discussed progress.
Actions taken now will influence water quality data in 2027 and 2028. Therefore, we must continue to build on the momentum to reduce agriculture’s impact on water quality.
To this end, Ireland's Sixth Nitrates Action Programme aims to achieve the optimum balance between a combination of regulation, knowledge transfer, awareness raising, and incentivisation to drive improvements in water quality. For example:
• The new Nitrates Regulations signed into law by my colleague Minister Browne introduced new and strengthened measures.
• Earlier this year, my Department delivered mandatory water quality training for over 860 accredited Farm Advisory Service advisers.
• In addition, Teagasc are rolling out their Better Farming for Water multi-actor advisory campaign focused on simple messaging and priority catchments, including the Blackwater and Lee catchments within your own constituency.
• Building on Minister of State Cummins' introduction of the planning permission exemption criteria for standalone slurry storage, I recently amended the TAMS ranking and selection criteria to ensure farmers seeking support for investment in nutrient storage are prioritised.
To conclude, we must all work to build on the current momentum so we can see improved water quality data.
