Video: Water quality efforts 'not a waste' despite derogation debacle
"Huge efforts" taken by farmers to improve water quality have "been absolutely critical", Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon has said.
The minister said that despite farmers possibly feeling like the goalposts have changed when it comes to the derogation, he is stressing to farmers that any measures taken up to now "were not a waste", and they were "absolutely right" to carry them out.
"We wouldn’t be on the pitch now as the last remaining country in the EU to be seeking another derogation if they hadn’t made those efforts and didn't see improvement in water quality," he told Agriland in Co. Cork today (Friday, July 25).
He noted in particular the 10% reduction in river nitrate concentrations in most regions in the past year, shown by recent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) figures.
The minister spoke to Agriland at a farm walk event in Bandon in Co. Cork.
Heydon gave an update on the progress of the campaign to securing Ireland's nitrates derogation post-2025 to the farmers who attended the event on the farm of Carbery Milk Quality and Sustainability Award winners 2024, Glenn Forde and family.
It was announced earlier this month by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) that the European Commission has told Ireland it “must demonstrate compliance” with the Habitats Directive when granting farmers a nitrates derogation.
This is expected to form parts of the conditions Ireland will have to meet to retain the nitrates derogation after 2026.
According to the minister, the European Commission wrote to Ireland in June and outlined "quite clearly that they needed us to take regard of the Habitats Directive as well as the water quality" in any new derogation application.
DAFM plans to carry out any screening and Appropriate Assessments at a “catchment and sub-catchment” scale to deal with the nitrates derogation compliance requirement.
There are 46 catchments in Ireland. These catchments are further divided into 583 sub-catchments.
The minister was at the farm walk event on Friday actively “meeting farmers and hearing their concerns”.
"I know from the Nitrates Derogation perspective the most recent announcement has been a change in terms of what farmers are used to," Minister Heydon said.
"They’ve always been focused on water quality in terms of renewal of the derogation, so the Habitats Directive being raised and needing to be addressed as part of the next application is a surprise to them."
He said in terms of the approach for the Habitats Directive, the European Commission has "written very clearly to us and said they need us to address our compliance with that as part of our next application".
"We will write back later this month and make it clear that we do intend to address that. I have been engaging with all key stakeholders around how this will mean a change of approach.
"What we need to do, is do it in a way that is legally robust against any future challenges, but also is practical in terms of its implementation. I believe this is something we can do.
"As part of that ask, my large ambition will be around getting as much time as possible from the EU to allow us to undertake what is an onerous undertaking."
Minister Heydon explained that Ireland use every lever it can to make sure Europe knows how important the derogation is to the farming sector in this country.
He said that nobody "should be under any doubt" about the time it will take to undertake the process related to complying with the Habitats Directive.
"That will be the ask; that everyone who has a derogation now, my ask would be they would continue to have it beyond the end of this year," the minister said.
He said he will be asking the commission "for as much time as possible" to allow Ireland to undertake the process, "to allow for the fact that we are taking a new approach and something that will take years to undertake".
"In terms of addressing the Habitats Directive element of this, that does require a lot of time.
"Anyone who has been through that process in different sectors knows there’s times of the year that you check for certain things and that process does take years.
"My clear ask would be [that] for us to undertake, we need a commitment that we would continue to have the derogation throughout the process."
The minister is hopeful there can be a vote in December at EU level on Ireland's derogation, however, it could be in March.
Minister Heydon added that it is "very clear" that by farmers being in derogation in Ireland, they are "able to run profitable farms, they’ve been able to reinvest in measures that help water quality".
"There is a very strong case here for Ireland continuing to have the derogation because we’re farming more environmentally friendly because of that," he added.
"The consequences of not having it would inadvertently lead to more intensive housed systems possibly, and the commission are aware of that."
