Dairy Industry Ireland (DII) has warned that the cut to the nitrates derogation could drive farmers to more intensive indoor systems and away from Ireland’s world-leading grass-based model.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, DII director Conor Mulvihill, said DII, which represents milk processors, is also “hugely concerned about possible decreases in milk supply and farmer and processor profitability”.

He also warned that the cut to the derogation will cause a severe agriculture-wide problem across Ireland.

“This will affect far more than derogation farmers. It will destroy any prospect for tillage and horticulture growth, as well as putting severe pressure on other livestock systems,” he said.

“It needs to be treated as an ‘all of Irish farming’ issue. It is completely unfair to allow those in derogation take the brunt and, as the impact assessments show, it will have negligible effect on water quality.

“The EPA and the European Commission have always told us to ‘follow the science’ here – let’s get real and actually put that into practice,” he said.

“Recent EPA reports have themselves shown a stabilisation and even slight improvement in water quality. We should focus on that work and the science rather than blunt force solutions that will do far more harm than good and actually undermine environmental action in the long term.”