A DAERA spokesperson has confirmed that a revised EU directive on industrial emissions will not apply to the intensive farming sector in NI.

An amendment to the directive on industrial emissions, which is a successor to the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) directive, was agreed in April 2024 and comes into force on 4 August 2024. Member states will have 22 months to transpose the rules into national legislation.

Among the main changes is a revision to the thresholds for pig and poultry units. At present, only those units (including in NI) with more than 40,000 bird places, over 750 sows or more than 2,000 production pigs over 30kg, must have an IPPC permit in place, allowing them to operate.

The revised directive lowers the threshold for laying hens to around 21,400 birds and for pig producers, the threshold moves to 700 sows, or approximately 1,100 adult pigs.

However, those changes are not applicable to NI and only those parts of the revised industrial emissions directive relating to electricity generation and supply are relevant, given the all-island nature of this market.

“The directive only applies in NI insofar as it relates to large combustion plants, which feed into the single electricity market on the island of Ireland,” confirmed a DAERA spokesperson.