Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 29 May 2024
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed)
Mr. Conor Mulvihill:
I might open quickly and then maybe we can go to Dr. McCarthy, Mr. Cronin or one of the experts. The Water European Innovation Project, EIP, for that is €50 million in farmers' pockets and then €10 million. The key thing about the Water EIP is that the actions we are taking are nearly all phosphorus based. We are hoping that will help address it. There will be rainwater management plans relating to what Deputy Fitzmaurice is talking about. A farmer will see where the phosphorus flows and will be paid for that in terms of the nutrient scores and things like that. Nitrogen is more difficult to deal with than actual phosphorus that we are finding or dealing with. Our advisers in Teagasc and the Local Authority Waters Programme, LAWPRO, feel that there are solutions for phosphorus once education and money is put in. Once a farmer gets the advice, it should not just be left there and that they should be paid to take the actions in terms of bunding and riparian margins.