Visit to department fails to gain concessions from EU Commissioner

FARM groups have expressed their frustration after the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s meeting with EU Environment Commissioner EU Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius at the Department of Agriculture failed to make any changes to the derogation decision made in September.

Some 2,096 farmers are facing a reduction in their derogation from 250kg of nitrogen per hectare to 220kgs of nitrogen per hectare under new regulations coming into force on January 1st.

Fine Gael Senator Tim Lombard from West Cork had called for Mr Sinkevicius to visit the Timoleague catchment, to show the improvements in water quality which had been achieved. However the commissioner said his schedule had already been set, and also declined a farm visit invitation from Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue.

West Cork Independent TD Michael Collins had urged the Taoiseach to press Mr Sinkevičius for a two-year extension to the derogation. ‘This timeframe is pivotal, providing the window needed to construct a compelling case for a longer-term derogation - a lifeline for maintaining higher livestock densities crucial for sustainable food production,’ said Deputy Collins.

But Mr Sinkevičius stressed there would be no change in the derogation decision confirmed in September that the nitrates reduction will reduce to 220kg per hectare for many farmers. He said that would require a new derogation process.

Following the meeting at the Dept of Agriculture, IFA President Tim Cullinan claimed farmers have been ‘thrown under a bus’ by the Minister for Agriculture and the EU Commission. ‘We were very clear with the Commissioner that we are very proud of our grass-based production system which is the basis for our derogation,’ he said.

‘The mid-term review mechanism agreed by our Department was unfair and did not give any time for the measures underway out to have a positive effect on water quality,’ he said.

The ICMSA president Pat McCormack said the meeting with Mr Sinkevičius had clarified several questions. ‘Chief amongst those clarifications was the Commissioner’s concession that if water quality stabilised then Ireland could keep its derogation.’

Mr McCormack said that he had no doubt that the incidence of water problems ‘rightly or wrongly attributed to farming’ would fall but said a more pressing issue was what he described as the State’s ‘hopeless position on deterorating water quality caused by its own inaction and indifference’.

‘The recent publication of untreated discharges at multiple locations all under the direct supervision of agencies of the State was as scandalous as it was revealing,’ Mr McCormack said.

An Taisce’s Dr Elaine McGoff supported the commissioner’s decision. ‘Any delay in implementing this reduction will just further exacerbate the water pollution issues we’re facing.’

She said what farmers require now is honesty and clarity from decision-makers and farming leaders. ‘It is now up to the Irish Government to put in place a well-formulated plan, based on the full picture of Ireland’s water quality provided by the comprehensive catchment data produced by the Environmental Protection Agency, to assist and support farmers in managing their holdings under the new derogation limits.’