Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 14 September 2022
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Nitrates Derogation and Nitrates Action Programme: Discussion
Mr. Pat McCormack:
We are unique in Europe because we have 55,000 or 60,000 farmers who are audited on a regular basis from an environmental impact perspective through the sustainable dairy assurance scheme and the beef and lamb audits. We see in Europe a move to emulate this structure. It is the structure we have and we need to retain and cherish it. We need to use it to promote what we do and its uniqueness. We must reiterate this point. Significant undermining of it is written all over the nitrates directive.