Work is already afoot to draw up the new nitrates rules needed to secure a post-2025 nitrates derogation as the departments of agriculture and housing plan on convening the Nitrates Expert Group weekly from 12 February.

The group – made up of senior officials from the two departments, the Environmental Protection Agency and Teagasc – is the advisory body to Government ministers on nitrates policy.

Ireland’s current nitrates derogation and Nitrates Action Programme expires at the end of 2025 and the European Commission has sought information on the new measures planned for the next programme, in addition to an “improvement/stabilisation in water quality”.

February deadline

The Department of Housing aims to have the new nitrates regulations “in place by the end of November” meaning that recommendations “from all external groups are required by the end of February at the latest”.

A mid-term to update the current Nitrates Action Programme is still ongoing, as missed deadlines pushed back this separate update of nitrates regulations by almost a year beyond the expected date of introduction.

The expert group is to “examine measures to address pressures arising from the grazing platform” when drafting measures for the new programme, although no specific rule changes have been noted in the meeting minutes.

It has previously defined the grazing platform as the “grassland area with clear access to and within 3km of the milking facility”.

The findings of Teagasc research into the slurry and soiled water storage generated on dairy farms “should also be considered”, the Department told the expert group last week.

Provisional data on Teagasc’s work into the volume of slurry and soiled water produced on dairy farms points towards volumes being between 30% and 40% higher than the storage requirements currently set down in regulation.

The use of GPS units to track slurry movements was previously flagged as a measure that is to be considered during this update of nitrates rules in efforts to prevent the false declarations of slurry exports.

The establishment of a feed database has also been touted by the expert group as a possible measure.