A new cabinet committee is to be formed to address water quality in an effort to retain the nitrates derogation.
Taoiseach Simon Harris made the announcement at the Irish Farmers’ Association’s (IFA’s) Farming and Food Conference in The Curragh, Co. Kildare today (Thursday, October 31), in a wide ranging speech setting out Fine Gael’s election stall to farmer voters.
Speaking at the event, the Taoiseach said: “Responsibility for retaining the derogation does not just rely on farmers. It’s not just an issue for farmers.
“We need to see improvements from Irish Water (Uisce Éireann). We need to see improvements in municipal waste.”
“This requires pulling on the green jersey, it requires bringing everyone together, and it requires having an absolute zero-tolerance approach to ‘buck passing’ from one part of the government to the other, from one agency to another. It is too important,” the Taoiseach added.
He said that, if still Taoiseach after the election, he is “committed to establishing a cabinet committee on water quality to drive improvements from my department and steer a national effort to retain the nitrates derogation”.
Also commenting on the proposed cabinet committee, Minister of State Martin Heydon (a party colleague of the Taoiseach’s) said: “The nitrates derogation is a national asset on which a major sector of our economy depends. Ireland has a unique grass-based livestock production system with over 92% of our agricultural land under grassland.”
“The loss of the derogation would have significant negative impacts not only for the farmers directly affected but also the wider agriculture sector and rural economy.”
“Farmers are doing their bit to improve water quality, and we will support them in those efforts. But they should not be asked to do this alone as agriculture is not the only pressure on water quality,” Minister Heydon added.
He said that the committee will coordinate the actions of all relevant government departments and state agencies in efforts to secure the derogation, and that it will include government departments, Irish Water, local authorities, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and other bodies.
The Taoiseach’s announcement was also welcomed by Fine Gael senator Tim Lombard, who said: “Retaining the derogation is not only about farmers. It’s about our local economies and the reduction in spend which would result. It’s about the milk processing plants which are employers and drivers of the economy in our rural towns and villages.”