Continuous improvements in water quality will be a key condition for Irish farmers remaining exempt from pollution regulations under EU proposals to be voted on next month.
The European Commission has proposed granting the Government’s request to continue the exemption, or derogation, from the regulations in the Nitrates Directive.
It would mean Irish farmers could continue to keep more livestock per acre of land than is allowed under the directive which is designed to limit animal waste and pasture fertilisers running off land into waterways.
Full details of the proposal will be published when it is put to a vote by the EU nitrates committee, made up of members of all 27 member states, in the next few weeks.
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However, Ireland’s EU Commissioner Michael McGrath said it was conditional on recent improvements in water quality in derogation areas being continued.
“It is a recognition of the genuine efforts that have been made by the Irish authorities and by the farming community themselves to make progress,” he said.
“It will now be required that that progress continues. That’s the core condition.”
The commission has also said that farmers benefiting from the derogation will need to show compliance with the Habitats Directive.
If the commission’s proposal is backed by the nitrates committee, it would extend the derogation for another three years, leaving Ireland and the Netherlands as the only countries exempt from its regulations.
Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon said negotiations on the issue were “intense” and assurances around water quality and the Habitats Directive had paved the way to the commission’s support for Ireland’s cause.
He said demonstrating compliance with the Habitats Directive and water standards would be a “massive undertaking”.
“It will require a significant investment of time and resources to complete these assessments,” he said.
“I am today calling on all stakeholders to redouble their efforts to take the right action in the right place. We must maintain the momentum of action now to ensure that we see continuous improvements in the data for agriculture-related water quality.”
While recent testing for nitrates has shown a reduction in some water bodies, the Environmental Protection Agency’s latest report shows a continuing overall decline in the condition of rivers and lakes, with agriculture the main source of pressure.
Earlier this month, the European Court of Justice found Ireland guilty of multiple breaches of the Water Framework Directive, including failing to prevent pollution.
Dr Elaine McGoff of An Taisce expressed concern at the Commission’s proposal.
“This derogation decision is meant to be based on the science, but the evidence is very clearly indicating that we have a serious nitrogen pollution problem in Ireland, and the measures we’re putting in place to address that are not working,” she said.
