Oireachtas committee wants Taoiseach to lead derogation fight

Taoiseach Simon Harris should lead efforts to retain the nitrates derogation ahead of negotiations for a post-2025 derogation, the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture has said.

The committee published a report this week which called for a cross-departmental derogation taskforce to be established and led by an Taoiseach.

Committee recommendations include more frequent water quality reporting by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), more supports for slurry storage and new funding for advisers to deliver water quality advice to farmers.

More resources

The report also claims that more resources are needed for Teagasc’s agricultural catchments, as the “temporary nature of staffing” in the initiative is “preventing it from delivering fully, due to excessive staff vacancies and turnover”.

TDs and senators from both Government and opposition parties sit on the committee, which heard evidence from stakeholders including the Environmental Protection Agency, the Irish Farmers' Association, the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, Teagasc and the Department of Agriculture.

Lag times between the introduction of nitrates measures and an improvement in water quality should be researched and the results of these studies “strongly emphasised” when another derogation is sought to give measures enough time to show an impact, according to the report.

Committee vice-chair Senator Tim Lombard stated that a Taoiseach-led nitrates taskforce would see the derogation negotiations led from the highest levels of Government.

“We need to see monthly reports on water quality and getting information into farmers' hands more frequently than once a year would empower the farming community to act whenever issues crop up and get the issue solved,” Lombard said.