Mr. David Flynn:

I thank the Chairman for the invitation to speak with the committee on the subject of the European Union’s 1991 nitrates directive and Ireland’s forthcoming nitrates action programme 2022. I am joined by my colleague, Mr. Donal Grant, who is a water policy adviser with our Department and co-chair of the nitrates expert group.

Ireland’s nitrates action programme must protect surface waters and groundwater from pollution arising from agricultural sources. Under the terms of the nitrates directive, Ireland must review and update our national nitrates action programme by the end of this year. Our review must take into account the recent trends in water quality. We have conducted a broad public consultation and held discussions with key stakeholders including farm organisations and non-governmental organisations. Our department is working closely with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine on this review and on related agri-environmental policy measures.

Our water quality is under increasing pressure. The EPA has reported that almost half of our water bodies are not in satisfactory condition. The most significant pressures on water are from excessive nutrients, namely, phosphorous and nitrogen, siltation of waterways and changes to the physical habitats of our rivers.

People need clean water to drink, for sanitation and for swimming. Our food industry trades on Ireland’s image as a clean and green source of sustainable food production. Ireland’s tourist industry relies on our image as a green island with well-stocked, healthy fisheries with unpolluted estuaries without green algae and with clean beaches next to good quality bathing waters. Our biodiversity needs unpolluted water. All of this requires well-protected water catchments.

While I am focusing my comments today on agriculture, I want to assure the committee that our Department is also taking action right across the full range of significant water pressures to protect and enhance our waterways. Ireland has binding obligations under the water framework directive to protect all water. We are obliged to prevent the deterioration of water status and we must bring all water to at least good status by 2027 at the very latest. At present, we are a long way from this objective and water quality trends in many of our water bodies are going in the wrong direction. The situation is urgent and requires collective action across a number of policy areas to halt and reverse this deterioration in water quality.

The Minister, Deputy O’Brien, recently published a draft river basin management plan for the period 2022 to 2027 for a six month consultation period running until March of next year. We have given copies to the Chairman for members, which we can pass over if necessary. The final plan will be published in mid-2022 following this consultation period.

This draft sets out over 100 proposed measures to address all pressures across water bodies from different activities and sectors. The nitrates action programme and the associated agricultural sustainability support and advice programme, ASSAP, are two of the key measures for mitigating agricultural pressures.

The nitrates directive dates back to 1991. Ireland has had a long and often difficult history with the implementation of this directive. In 2004, the Court of Justice of the European Union, CJEU, issued a judgment against Ireland following its failure to fulfil its obligations under this directive. There is a binding requirement in the nitrates directive that each member state must set a general limit not exceeding 170 kg nitrogen per hectare. Ireland has requested a derogation up to 250 kg nitrogen per hectare, where conditions permit. We are looking to review this derogation. Ireland’s dairy industry relies heavily on this derogation facility. However, securing the derogation depends on Ireland demonstrating a robust nitrates action programme that shows that we will achieve the obligations and objectives of the nitrates directive.

An initial public consultation on the next programme was open from November 2020 until January 2021. The expert group then developed a draft programme. We held a second public consultation on this draft from August until mid-September of this year. This is in addition to, and in parallel with, various stakeholder events, webinars and an ongoing dialogue with key stakeholders.

The proposed draft measures for the next programme were set out in detail in the consultation document. The measures are now being adjusted and finalised, having regard to the issues, suggestions and concerns raised by people during the consultation period. The draft measures for the next programme include new requirements for slurry and soiled water storage and management; revised livestock excretion rates; proposals for a dairy industry nitrogen reduction initiative; new controls on chemical fertilisers; a chemical fertiliser register; green cover on tillage ground; new requirements on grazing land management; a commitment to review compliance assurance activities by local authorities; and enforcement by local authorities. The draft also includes a commitment to address the sustainable reuse of sewage and industrial sludge, as well as measures to help address ammonia emissions from agriculture.

Finally, both this next programme and the draft River Basin Management Plan 2022-2027 propose to expand the ASSAP to work directly with farmers, industry and advisory services to protect and deliver improvements in water quality. In order to protect water quality, individual farmers will need support from their industry. The Irish agrifood sector depends on our clean, green image. Our dairy processors, in particular, rely on the derogation facility in the directive. Environmental sustainability also needs economic sustainability. Industry needs to provide farmers with a reasonable economic return for operating sustainably within the limits of their land. Farmers will need programmes that include both economic returns for doing the right thing and ready access to practical farm-level advice.

I will finish with a note on the next steps. It is expected that, following a review of the consultation responses, we will have the draft regulations text within the next few weeks. This will then be presented to the European Commission for agreement. We anticipate that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Charlie McConalogue, will publish a final action plan by the end of December, along with new good agricultural practice regulations. With regard to Ireland’s application for a derogation, if the Commission decides to grant Ireland a derogation, the terms of the decision will be presented at a meeting of the EU nitrates committee in mid-December. Member states will then vote on the derogation decision. If the vote is successful, the derogation will be published as a Commission decision as soon as practicable after that. It will be transposed into national legislation thereafter.

I thank members for their attention. We will be happy to take any questions and we will take account of members' views when we finalise the programme.