Pippa Hackett (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Boyhan for raising this matter. It is good to hear that he was in County Laois at the weekend.

Government Departments and their agencies work collaboratively to collectively protect water quality in Ireland. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is the lead authority for the nitrates regulations and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine implements and operates the nitrates derogation. The current nitrates action programme and nitrates derogation are in place from 2018 to 2021, inclusive. Ireland has commenced the process of reviewing the nitrates regulations. Initial consultation closed on 15 January this year but a second consultation is planned to commence shortly. I invite Senator Boyhan and any other interested parties to contribute to that consultation. In parallel, Ireland is meeting the European Commission and presenting at the EU's nitrates committee with a view to renewing a nitrates action programme for 2022.

Unlike other EU member states, Ireland has both nitrogen and phosphorous measures within the regulatory framework.This contributes to additional protection of waters and the environment. However, every farmer has a role to play in protection of the environment whether they are extensive or intensive farmers. While there are concessions within the current regulations, SI No. 605 of 2017, for the out-wintering of livestock, additional conditions are included such as: out-wintered livestock have free access at all times to the required land; the amount of manure produced on the holdings does not exceed an amount containing 140 kg of nitrogen per ha per annum; and severe damage to the surface of the land by poaching does not occur.

Small amounts of phosphorous, even from extensive systems of farming, can cause ecological issues to water quality and management of the landscape is critical to minimise any potential losses, especially sediment and phosphorous losses from mismanagement of ring feeders. Detailed research in the agricultural catchments programme has highlighted that soils, weather and farming practices have a significant influence on the nutrient concentrations at the local scale. This has important implications for selecting the right measures while also managing farm practices. Ireland's heterogenous landscape means that measures need to be targeted to achieve the best environmental outcomes.

The next CAP can influence interventions at farm level. The development of the CAP strategic plan involves a number of stages including strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, SWOT, analysis, needs assessment, intervention design, financial allocations, target setting and governance systems. The draft CAP strategic plan will also be subject to an ex-anteevaluation, strategic environmental assessment and appropriate assessment, including a public consultation on the draft CAP strategic plan and draft environmental report.

The Minister and Ministers of State have, with our officials, continued to engage extensively with stakeholders on the future of CAP. Consultations on the development of the CAP strategic plan will continue via the CAP consultative committee, which comprises representatives of the main stakeholders, including farm bodies, non-government organisations, NGOs, industry representatives and academic representation. It also includes representatives from many Departments and Government agencies, including Bord Bia, Teagasc and the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA. The committee has met on 18 occasions with further meetings planned throughout 2021. Details of the discussions to date are available on the Government website.

The negotiations on CAP are continuing at EU level with intensive negotiations between the European Parliament, Presidency and Commission continuing with a view to reaching agreement at the Council of Ministers meeting on 28 and 29 June. The Department is continuing to develop the CAP strategic plan in consultation with stakeholders through the CAP consultative committee and other forums. Consideration is currently being given to measures that will be supported under the new CAP strategic plan and stakeholders will be further consulted on this shortly. Following the consultation, the draft plan will then be subject to strategic environmental assessment, the ex-ante evaluation and further public consultation processes before submission to the Commission by the deadline of 1 January 2022.