The biggest cohort to sign the register are dairy farmers. / Philip Doyle
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Just 96 farmers have signed up to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) water register, out of a potential 1,171 farmers who were due to sign up.
Farmers drawing over 25,000l of water a day had been requested to sign an online register before 16 November last year. The EPA expected 750 dairy farmers, 320 piggeries, 100 horticulture farmers and one sheep farmer to sign up. To date, barely 8% of farmers on that list have registered. The largest cohort to sign up are dairy farmers, with 65 registrations. Farmers who didn’t sign the register could have been liable for a €5,000 fine plus legal expenses, but the EPA stated it has not yet taken any prosecutions.
Letters
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The EPA has sent letters to a number of farmers requesting them to sign the register.
“Our focus is on ensuring compliance with the regulations and we are continuing to work with the Department of Agriculture to ensure farmers are aware of the requirement to register,” they said.
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Just 96 farmers have signed up to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) water register, out of a potential 1,171 farmers who were due to sign up.
Farmers drawing over 25,000l of water a day had been requested to sign an online register before 16 November last year. The EPA expected 750 dairy farmers, 320 piggeries, 100 horticulture farmers and one sheep farmer to sign up. To date, barely 8% of farmers on that list have registered. The largest cohort to sign up are dairy farmers, with 65 registrations. Farmers who didn’t sign the register could have been liable for a €5,000 fine plus legal expenses, but the EPA stated it has not yet taken any prosecutions.
Letters
The EPA has sent letters to a number of farmers requesting them to sign the register.
“Our focus is on ensuring compliance with the regulations and we are continuing to work with the Department of Agriculture to ensure farmers are aware of the requirement to register,” they said.
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