There is mounting pressure on Ireland to agree a position on its Nitrates Derogation application. The Department of Agriculture wants to respond to the European Commission by the end of July to confirm that Ireland will engage with the process set out by Brussels to retain the derogation.
Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon hosted a top-level meeting of dairy sector stakeholders in Co Kildare this week in an effort to build an agreed consensus on the derogation application.
Farm leaders and ICOS were among those briefed by Minister Heydon and senior Department staff on the latest position regarding the Nitrates Derogation. The dairy processors attended a separate meeting with the minister and his staff on the same day.
The dairy industry has been rocked by Commission demands that Ireland must prove that environments protected under the Habitats Directive will not be damaged as a result of the derogation being granted.
There was an insistence from the Department at its meeting with farmer representatives that removing the Habitats Directive from the derogation application process was not possible at this stage.
“If we want to keep the derogation, then we have to engage with the process set out by the Commission, and that includes the Habitats Directive,” one source told the Irish Farmers Journal.
The farm organisations again expressed concern that appropriate assessments of habitats at river catchment and sub-catchment levels will be required to retain the derogation.
They also called on Minister Heydon to publish the letter he received from the Commission setting out its position on the derogation.
The possible appointment of a mediator to help agree a national position on the derogation application was suggested at the meeting, the Irish Farmers Journal understands. However, no decision was taken on the proposal.
The establishment of a small working group – involving Department staff and industry stakeholders – to set out how the appropriate assessment process will work is also being considered.
SHARING OPTIONS