Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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I tabled this matter, in which I mentioned the Ministers with responsibility for housing and agriculture, to seek an update on where we are with the nitrates derogation. It is disappointing that we do not have a Minister here to deal with this issue, particularly one from the Department of agriculture.

A bombshell hit the agricultural sector 12 months ago, and the dairy sector in particular, when we lost our derogation. The majority of Ireland, seven eights of it, became part of a 220 kg per hectare zone and only one part was left as a 250 kg per hectare zone. The knock-on effect was absolute chaos within the system, with the potential of in-calf cows being slaughtered in order that the nitrates derogation could be reached. How we handled that is my deepest concern. We had a situation where a Zoom call was literally how we understood that we had lost our derogation. There was chaos. As a result of what happened, we have lost 1 billion litres of milk through this over the past two years. Confidence is draining from the industry. I am deeply concerned. I need to know the progress regarding the new derogation. The clock is ticking. We need to get information.

I feel like I am the only man who stands up for dairy farmers. It is not sexy to stand up for dairy farmers at times, but I always will. We have over 1,200 dairy farmers in my part of the world. We have five major co-ops, four of which are located in Bandon, Drinagh, Lisavaird and Barryroe. The fifth is operated by Dairygold. They are all really important drivers in our community. If we take in 1,200 dairy farmers, the co-ops and all these people, it is a major driver in rural Ireland. The fact that we could be in a situation where the derogation could be under threat is something I am really concerned about.

I am asking the Minister of State to outline where we are with this plan. What is the position with the negotiations? Can the Minister of State provide a timeline? Have the Department officials an the approach to the European Commission? I understand that an approach has to be made in the next few weeks. I want to know what they are having, what they are saying and where they are going. Two weeks ago, Commission representatives came to Ireland and, for some bizarre reason, we decided that we would not take them to the one catchment farm that is in a 250 kg per hectare zone, which is Timoleague. We should have taken them down there to show how we could have had a highly stocked bovine area and really good quality of water. For some reason, we did not do that. It was a missed opportunity. That is very unfortunate. We now need to make sure that this derogation is retained.We cannot go back to the absolute chaos we had last year. Last year, the Zoom call, the lack of information and the chaos in the system affected the confidence of the farming community. We have seen that in the substantial reduction in milk volumes, which is affecting the 59 milk plants throughout Ireland. This is not only have having an effect on the family farm. The majority of farms in west Cork have fewer than 100 cows, which shows where they are as regards scale of production. We are not a big operation. We have the family farm model. The Department needs to take a whole-of-government approach. There are two Departments covering this issue. On the water side, there is the Department of housing and, on the agriculture side, there is the Department of agriculture. There needs to be a whole-of-government approach to make sure the derogation is kept. We have done a very great deal in the last two or three years to improve water quality. The farming community has put in place 33 or 34 different measures to mitigate water quality issues. That needs to be taken on board. We have to build confidence in this sector and we will not do so if we have this drip-drip approach where we do not know what is going to happen next year. We need an update. We need to know where this is. We need a plan. The plan needs to take a whole-of-government approach and it needs to be driven forward by the Taoiseach's office. I would be deeply concerned if the Departments of housing and agriculture were left in charge again. They dropped the ball last time. They did a bloody Zoom call, which was not good enough. This time, the approach must be led from the very top of Government. If that is not the case, I fear where our family farms and this industry will go.

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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I am here on behalf of the Minister for housing. I thank Senator Lombard for raising the issue of the work being carried out by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to secure the renewal of Ireland's nitrates derogation from 1 January 2026. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is responsible for the nitrates directive and the nitrates action programme, NAP. The purpose of the NAP is to prevent pollution of surface waters and groundwater from agricultural sources and to protect and improve water quality. In developing these measures, officials from the Department work closely with officials in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The fifth NAP runs from 2022 to 2025 and, under this programme, Ireland was granted a derogation that enables certain farmers, upon application to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, to exceed the 170 kg of nitrogen per hectare per year organic manure limit up to a maximum of 250 kg of nitrogen per hectare.

With the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, officials from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage are now preparing the sixth NAP, which must be in place by 1 January 2026. Ireland will again seek a derogation from the European Commission. Commission officials have been very clear that a derogation under the sixth NAP can only be considered if Ireland can demonstrate water quality improvements and stabilisation in water quality where objectives are being met. Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage officials are working closely with Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine officials to implement additional measures under the fifth NAP to ensure water quality improvements. There will be a public consultation on these measures in November with a view to having the measures in place from 1 January 2025.

Last month, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage published Water Action Plan 2024, which includes the requirement for an agricultural water quality sectoral action plan and the Farming for Water European Innovation Programme. This programme is funded by both Departments and has a budget of €60 million over five years to implement measures where water quality is at risk from agriculture. It builds on the work undertaken by the local authority waters programme and the agricultural sustainability support advisory programme. Furthermore, officials from both Departments have been engaging with European Commission officials in advance of seeking the next derogation. In September, European Commission officials visited Ireland for three days and were accompanied by officials from both Departments on their visits to derogation farms and meetings with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine agriculture water quality working group.

Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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The officials came here for three days but they did not go to the right area. They should have gone to Timoleague, where we have a derogation of 250 kg per hectare. The rest of Ireland is at 220 kg per hectare. It was decided not to take them to the one location where the 250 kg per hectare is being reached. That is absolutely crazy stuff. I am not being pedantic but, in the Minister of State's statement, he said that a public consultation is taking place in November but that measures were to come into effect on 1 January. The farming community will have very little time to change practices if there is going to be a public consultation and then measures are going to be brought forward. We are deeply concerned about timelines. Last time we had this issue, it could potentially have been the case that 20,000 cows would have had to be slaughtered because the Department's timelines were not appropriate. We are concerned that this is not being prioritised. This came from the Department of housing. The Department of agriculture needs to be here. They work in conjunction. Last time around, we dropped the ball and family farms got a kicking because of what happened. We cannot let that happen again. We really have to learn from the mistakes that were made previously. I am deeply concerned about where this is at the moment. Significant works have been done on farms. Water quality is going in the right direction. We need to ensure a whole-of-government approach. The Department of housing is working in conjunction with the Department of agriculture. This needs to be led by the Taoiseach's office. That is where the force needs to go. Otherwise, I fear that we will have another Zoom call and that will be the end of it.

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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I take on board what the Senator is saying about the timeline. It is a very tight timeline from November to 1 January. However, the programme I referred to earlier is a €60 million programme over five years to implement measures where water quality is at risk from agriculture. A fund is being provided to assist with this. Ireland must demonstrate water quality improvements and stabilisation to secure the next derogation. I believe the Senator accepts that. It will be a very great challenge to do that. It is important that we do everything we can to achieve these water quality improvements. To achieve them, both Departments are working together to ensure additional measures will be implemented from 1 January 2025 and to ensure that the agricultural measures committed to under Water Action Plan 2024 are fully implemented. This includes the Farming for Water European Innovation Programme. Officials from both Departments will be working together closely in developing the sixth NAP that will support the application for a further nitrates derogation. This will involve continued engagement with Commission officials and engagement with agri-industry and the farming sector. One of the reasons we need to bring in new criteria on 1 January 2025 is that we need a full 12 months of a lead-in to make sure that our application for a derogation commencing on 1 January 2026 is successful. It is a 12-month lead-in. It is important that we have everything sorted well in advance to make sure there is no glitch in the system in dealing with this.