A team of ecologists is in the process of being hired by the Department of Agriculture as it takes on the mammoth task of carrying out a raft of environmental assessments to support Ireland’s retention of the nitrates derogation.
The Department refused to comment on the number of ecologists required to deliver the environmental assessments but it confirmed that it is in the process of putting together an expert grouping to do the work.
The Department also declined to answer when asked if the assessments would involve on-the-ground field work or be a desk-top exercise.
“A project team consisting of the required expertise, including ecologists, is being put in place. The make-up of the project team, including the total number of ecologists required will evolve as the project progresses,” a Department spokesperson said.
The Department conceded that carrying out the environmental assessments will be a “significant task” given the “complex data arising from biological systems”, the “geographic distribution” of the studies and the “restricted timeframe available to complete the work”.
All assessments must be completed by the end of 2028.
Derogation
Although Ireland was granted a three-year nitrates derogation in December last year, the State is required under additional conditionality to undertake environmental assessments to assess the impact that granting individual nitrates derogations could have on the objectives set under the Habitats Directive and the Water Framework Directive.
This will involve carrying out environmental assessments on most of the river catchments in the south and east, and undertaking assessments on natura sites which are in the general vicinity of derogation farms.
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