It will be 2028 before Irish farmers who are farming with a nitrates derogation will know if the derogation will be in place for 2029 and beyond, head of nitrates at the Department of Agriculture Ted Massey has said.
Speaking at Dairy Day 2026 in UL, the Department official said that the derogation Ireland currently has runs until the end of December 2028.
“We expect it will take us to [the] end of quarter two of 2028 to complete the assessments,” he said.
“Ultimately, it will be 2028 when we see the outcome,” he commented, adding that he appreciated that is a long time and appreciated that farmers want certainty.
Commenting on the short cycles of Ireland’s recent derogations, Massey said that the calf that’s going to calve down as a heifer in 2029 is already in the system.
“Four-year cycles are too short, there’s no getting away from that.
“We have to allow time for farmers to adjust. That will be a focus for our discussions when we get to 2028,” he said.
Transition period
The Netherlands received a transition period before its derogation was phased out, Massey said.
“They didn’t like it, but they got it. We will seek the best deal we can for Irish farmers,” he said.
Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) senior policy executive Geraldine O’Sullivan said that there cannot be a cliff edge for Irish farmers, that there must be a transition period.
“You can’t just have 31 December 2028 [and it’s] gone,” she said.
Ted Massey added that in quarter one of 2027, the Department will publish overview reports for the 583 sub-catchments as part of the appropriate assessment for the battle to retain Ireland’s derogation.
He said this will allow farmers to look at the catchment on a more local level and stressed that it is a presentation of the current data, that it does not take into account any future mitigants in the catchment.
