Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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101. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department has developed a contingency or plan B in the event that Ireland is not granted a further extension of the nitrates derogation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [65973/25]

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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A week is a long time in politics and it seems my question could be out of date. It is on whether the Department has developed a contingency or plan B in the event that Ireland is not granted a further extension of the nitrates derogation.

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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The nitrates derogation has been my number one priority since I was appointed Minister at the beginning of this year, and for very good reason. Our derogation farmers are making great efforts and strides around improving water quality, operating to a higher standard of conditionality. Our pasture-based system is very different from the rest of Europe. These have been very challenging and sensitive negotiations and there has been much at stake.

We have had three meetings of the nitrates technical committee so far this year, in March, June and September, and Ireland has been on the agenda and presented at each of them. I have dealt with and met Commissioner Roswall on several occasions. At a meeting in Brussels in September, I invited the Commissioner to visit Ireland, which she did, with her officials, in recent weeks. I met her again subsequently in Europe as we continued to engage back and forth. Throughout that time, we have sought to have the Commission put forward a proposal for implementing a decision to the next meeting of the nitrates committee, on 9 December, giving us an extension. The Commission wrote to us in June, highlighting the need for us to address the habitats directive as part of this process. This placed a significant extra burden on us to work through a process as to what that would look like and to have a negotiation in that regard.

I can confirm to the House today that the Commission has finally agreed to put a proposal to the nitrates committee for an extension of the existing derogation. It is not a new derogation; it has different terms and conditions around time and conditions. These have been very sensitive negotiations. The proposal is that the nitrates derogation extension will be for a three-year period, with new conditionality. I have worked very closely with many key stakeholders on this but it is sensitive issue. This is still only a proposal going to a technical committee that has a vote on it. We will not have a derogation on 1 January unless that committee votes to approve this proposal from the Commission. In the intervening period, my focus has been to continue to work with member states to make sure we get the result we need for Irish agriculture and our overall economy on 9 December.

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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The Minister mentioned the habitats directive has been a key part of these negotiations and that he had discussions in the summer with the Commissioner regarding incorporating the habitats directive into the plans. Can he give more information on exactly what that will mean for farmers, and what supports will be provided to ensure they can comply with that? The habitats directive is a robust compliance measure, so this is going to be very hard. This has been one of my arguments all along. We have had the derogation for 20 years but we have never once met any of the environmental conditions placed by Europe. Our water quality has never improved. Certainly, in the last report from the Environmental Protection Agency, they had not improved. What conditions will be placed on us as regards the habitats directive? What will that mean for farmers? How will the Minister support them in meeting hose conditions?

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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Farmers are on that journey already in a variety of ways, particularly in the area of water quality. Requirements include the need for Ireland, as outlined during the summer, to conduct environmental assessments to address the habitats directive at catchment level in order to demonstrate compliance with the directive. This is a massive undertaking. It will require significant investment of time and resources to complete these assessments for all 583 catchments. That is why the Commission has agreed to propose a three-year derogation to facilitate the completion of this work. The issue with time was something I continuously raised. Four years is the maximum time allowable under that, and we looked for the maximum. There was very much a desire for much less time to be given but we had to clearly outline, based on the science, how much time the process would take, both to be fair and to allow our farmers to work through that process and to allow the Department to assess those 583 catchments. That is very onerous and there are other conditionalities too. I want to be fair to all stakeholders and Government colleagues by briefing them properly. The stakeholders have been very constructive in their engagement throughout this process.

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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My understanding is the nitrates action plan has screened out appropriate assessments. Is that correct? How does the habitats directive fall into that action plan? The Minister is saying appropriate assessments may be part of this for farmers. I do not know whether that is on a catchment level or an individual site level.

Our concerns have always been that farmers were being led to a cliff and there was a level of uncertainty for them. There is now a three-year gap but, unfortunately, I imagine we could be back into this situation again in three years, where farmers are at the end of their tether and wondering what will happen in a number of months. I ask that the Minister completely avoid this.

It is also interesting that when the nitrates directive is mentioned, whether it is the Taoiseach or the Minister's colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae, the immediate response is to deflect to Mercosur. It seems there is a conflation of Mercosur and nitrates in the minds of some Government TDs-----

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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Where did the Deputy get that from?

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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The Minister of State, Deputy Healy-Rae, was asked about Mercosur on the TV during the week and he immediately went to the nitrates derogation. Can the Minister confirm there has been no deal done in Europe that the nitrates derogation would be given, contingent on his support for the Mercosur deal or not fighting or opposing it?

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy should conclude.

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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I am happy to confirm all my engagement with Commissioner Roswall has been around the substance of the nitrates derogation. It has a very important role here and the Commissioner saw that first-hand when she visited. The Deputy will forgive me in not taking her direct advice because if I had taken that earlier in the year, the Social Democrats and the Deputy would have had us wave the white flag and concede the nitrates derogation. We have a strong case, based on science, that we have a very different farming system here.

This is a sensitive topic. There are other countries in Europe that would like to have a proposal for a derogation and are looking at this. For this reason, I commend farm organisations, the industry and key stakeholders impacted by this across the board on their patience and trust in allowing me to work through this process. My hope had been to bring this to Cabinet and to engage with stakeholders in a way that allowed me to continue to engage with other member states, which will vote on this proposal on 9 December. The technical committee will vote on it.

All our focus has been on the habitats directive and water quality. The nitrates action plan 6, which is currently out for public consultation, has new conditionality on water quality. We had to make a detailed proposal on assessments to address the habitats directive, outlining the time they will take. It is not practical to talk about doing that on a farm level, and we have always been clear on that. That is why I am talking about it on a catchment and sub-catchment basis.