Nitrates derogation for Irish farmers is top priority for government, Agriculture Minister says

Vivienne Clarke

Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon has said the nitrates derogation for Irish farmers is the top priority for the government and for him.

Speaking to RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland at the National Ploughing Championships in Screggan, Co Offaly, the Minister said that he and the government were in “detailed negotiations” with the European Commission around requirements to comply with the habitats directive.

“To be clear, we're being asked to do something that no other European country has had to do yet in their farming system around the habitats directive," he said.

"So what we're saying back very clearly to the commission is how onerous an undertaking this is and while we are on for doing that, we need to understand the amount of time that would take.

“We're the only country in line to hold on to a derogation. I believe we have a very good chance of holding on to it because of my work and that of colleagues across government to having this as a top priority of government.

“But the reason that we should still have it is that our farming system is very different in Ireland to most of Europe. We are a country that has a pasture-based system.

"Irish cows are out on grass on average 240 days of the year compared to the intensive system across Europe where a lot of those cows don't see the sky too often. It's a very different model and that's why we've had this derogation for a very long time.

“We are working really, really intensively to tell the story around the efforts we're making to it ongoing efforts and that our farmers are taking, the positive impact that's having and the fact that we need time to implement a new approach here that they're looking for.”

The Minister added that it was a “clear priority” of his to fight “during ongoing negotiations” for more money in the CAP fund for the farming and agriculture sector as it was “absolutely pivotal” to the viability of farm incomes.

“If you take the ANC payments that I'm announcing today, areas of natural constraints, farmers on more marginal ground, less intensive farming, a €183 million in advance payment going out to 87,000 farmers in the coming days, that is critical for their income to support their farm viability and for the rural economies in which they're in.

"We have got to get the CAP funding back up to at least a hundred percent of what it is now.”

When asked if the state would have to make up any shortfall in farming incomes, the Minister said that there were a number of avenues being pursued in Europe “because otherwise we will be back looking at the national pot and making decisions around how we distribute that money nationally out of the National Fund if that's what is finalised and voted on".

Ireland was a “significant net contributor to the EU”, he said, “it's absolutely pivotal to us continue to develop and enhance our farming system and the great work that our farmers do all over the country.”