The Irish Farmers Association travelled to Brussels last week to meet with the European Commission on the subject of Ireland’s Nitrates Action Programme.

The IFA delegation, led by Paul O’Brien, chair of the environment committee met with Ian Codescu, head of land use and management in the European Commission.

The IFA’s head of policy Tadhg Buckley told the Irish Farmers Journal that the purpose of the meeting was to put it to the Commission that Ireland was not getting sufficient time for the new measures being introduced to have a positive impact on water quality, before the upper organic nitrogen limit in the derogation was to be cut from 250kg N/ha to 220kg N/ha.

“The IFA is calling on the Irish Government to recognise the scientific advice issued in this new report by Teagasc.

“The report clearly states that there should be sufficient time for the measures already agreed to have an impact.

It also says that these measures will be sufficient to meet the water quality standards required in the Water Framework Directive, so why are we being forced into reducing stock numbers?

“The Government needs to go back to the Commission and get the derogation conditions changed in light of this research,” Buckley said.

Meanwhile farmers from the Flanders region in Belgium protested in Brussels last week over a delay getting their nitrates action programme approved?.