With a Stormont election due next May, there isn’t any scope to extend the deadline for submission of responses to a public consultation on the Nutrients Action Programme (NAP) proposals, Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir has confirmed.

Set for Monday 7 September, it means the consultation is open for 10 weeks, rather than the usual 12-week period.

“Once the consultation closes, we need to evaluate the responses and then seek Executive approval. So, there’s a process that has to be undertaken and that window is relatively tight because the last sitting day of this assembly is 16 March [2027],” Minister Muir told members of the Stormont Agriculture committee last Thursday.

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He said the department had initially thought an eight-week consultation period would be necessary, but this was extended to 10 weeks after lobbying from the Ulster Farmers’ Union. During the meeting, the DAERA Minister also repeated his concerns about the long-standing agreement between NI Water and the NI Environment Agency, which means the company doesn’t face immediate penalties for pollution incidents if upgrades to facilities are underway.

He has sought agreement from the Stormont Executive for this Statement of Regulatory Principles and Intent (SORPI) arrangement to be removed.

“It’s neither right, nor fair, nor potentially even lawful that we have that arrangement in place. I cannot look farmers in the eye and say to them that the largest corporate polluter in NI has a special deal,” said Minister Muir.

Ammonia

On the issue of ammonia emissions and its related impact on planning, he said a lot of work has been done on a Strategic Ammonia Reduction Programme and hoped it will be published in the autumn. With that programme in place, it would allow planners to look differently on like-for-like replacement sheds, he suggested.

“Ideally, we would [also] like to get permitted development rights for covered slurry stores, because I understand the pressures that farmers face in relation to, for example, the closed period,” said the minister.

He was also asked about DAERA plans to link carbon audits to future Farm Sustainability Payments.

“We want to have a discussion with stakeholders. The desire is that the carbon footprinting project will be a conditionality associated with the Farm Sustainability Payment, but we want to bring people with us in regards to that,” the minister responded.