Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 20 March 2024

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed)

Dr. Marie Archbold:

Absolutely. It goes back to the point made in our opening statement. The Deputy referred to one person doing something stupid or non-compliant. It is not just on derogation farmers; it is about the sector taking ownership of this holistically and working together to achieve the outcomes. The reality is that we need significant nitrogen load reductions in some of our catchments. In some catchment areas, everybody might be fully compliant and doing everything right. In such cases, it is about getting the advisory services and the likes of the farming for water EIP into those areas to offer support in order to target and reduce nitrogen surpluses, improve nitrogen use efficiencies on those farms and reduce nitrogen losses into the estuarine environment. Working together across the whole sector is key.

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