The uniqueness of Ireland’s grass-based family farming system needs to be recognised in policy decisions which affect farmers and especially in the decision which will determine Ireland’s nitrates derogation from 2026, Minister for Enterprise Simon Coveney has said.

Minister Coveney stated that Irish farmers have done an “enormous amount” to respond to increasing concerns on the environment and that our “very different” system to the type which dominates other EU countries needs to be accommodated in future policy decisions.

“And it’s really important post-2025 that recognises Ireland as different to most other European countries and we can do that in a way that is good for the environment and good for farming,” Minister Coveney told the Irish Farmers Journal.

Quota removal

When asked by the Irish Farmers Journal if previous Governments had planned the dairy expansion in a way which would ensure the safeguarding of water quality, Minister Coveney maintained they did.

“For years, the Irish dairy industry was operating in a straight jacket. A lot of young people had no interest in taking over their family farms because they couldn’t grow, they couldn’t expand, they couldn’t fill the potential of their farms,” he replied.

“It was always clear though with the abolition of quotas that all farmers have an obligation towards the environment, towards ecosystems, towards wildlife, towards water quality and farmers know and understand that.

“They understand nature an awful lot better than many of people who are commenting on what goes on in farmyards.”

He added that the “vast majority of dairy farmers who have grown and expanded” have done it in the “right way”.