Noel O'Donovan (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister to the Chamber and thank him for being here to discuss an issue that is really important to me, the Minister and the farmers of west Cork. I refer to the issue of derogation. The Minister will know that, during a discussion on the CAP in this Chamber a number of weeks ago, I discussed the importance of derogation for the farmers of west Cork, many of whom I represent. I congratulate the Minister on the work he is doing to ensure we have a derogation in the years ahead and on the setting up of the Cabinet sub-committee on water quality because that is really important to show Europe the work that we are doing and that farmers are doing to improve water quality. Our party, Fine Gael, is leading on that work. It is important that we support the farming industry. We do not have the power to ensure the derogation will remain but it is important that we stand firm on the side of farmers.

A number of weeks ago, the Department disclosed a new map regarding the reduction of the 250 kg N/ha to 220 kg N/ha. This affects areas of my constituency. The Minister will be familiar with the Timoleague catchment area. This has come as a serious shock to some of the farmers in the area although discussions will have been held in recent years in which this reduction may have been forecast. I recently visited the catchment area and I saw at first hand the work the farmers are doing there. The rivers there are visually pristine. You would have no problem drinking from the rivers there because of the work of the farmers as regards nutrients stored and the time periods in which farmers are actually spreading slurry. The work farmers are doing on the ground is incredible to see. On the reduction from 250 kg N/ha to 220 kg N/ha, which is now to take place at the end of the year, farmers are rightly asking why they are doing this work if they are to see this reduction. There is a contagion effect and fear is spreading among the farmers who are already at the 220 kg N/ha limit. They see the farmers undertaking intensive agriculture at the 250 kg N/ha limit doing the work and water quality in the catchment area improving, as has been shown statistically, and ask if their good work is to no end. That is the fear farmers in my area have. We need to stand firm. I look forward to the Minister providing clarity on why the 250 kg N/ha rate has come about in recent times. I want an assurance from him that he and his Department will do all they can to retain this derogation because it is vitally important for the farmers I represent. I am not a farmer or a scientist but I understand the work the farming community is doing. The statistics are there.

The majority of the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, sampling for testing takes place in the bay in Courtmacsherry. It does not take place on the catchment rivers which are pristine and showing improvements. Farmers fear the EPA testing is picking up residual pollution and residual matter in the water. I do not want to be alarmist but there are man-made issues relating to wastewater facilities that have contributed to the pollution in our rivers, streams and bays. I ask the Minister to comment on that because farmers see the work they are doing, but if EPA testing in our bays and wider estuaries takes in other forms of pollution, that must be acknowledged so the blame is not attached to farmers.

The dairy industry in this country uses a grass-based model, which must be protected. For as long I am in this Chamber, I will speak for the farming industry. We need certainty and assurance because the farmers I meet are looking to the next generation. We have other issues, such as TB and the succession issue, on which the Minister is working. The derogation is important for the farmers I represent. I congratulate Councillor John Michael Foley in Timoleague, who raised the matter at Cork County Council recently. He secured widespread support in the chamber, with the exception of the Social Democrats. We must support our farming industry.

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising this important issue. I recognise how important the dairy industry is to west Cork and to the wider rural community. As Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, I am committed to doing everything in my power to develop the sectors for which I am responsible and to communicate a fresh understanding of what it is. Our farmers, fishers, foresters and the food industry contribute to society and the economy as a whole.

In 2024, much of the country moved to the lower maximum derogation stocking rate of 220 kg N/ha, following the two-year water quality review required under the Commission decision granting Ireland the current nitrates derogation. However, the Commission’s criteria for that review excluded some areas where the science shows our water quality is not what it should be. As part of the additional measures introduced under the interim review of the fifth nitrates action programme, which was a commitment under our last derogation decision, with effect from December of this year, the maximum derogation stocking rate reduces to 220 kg of organic N/ha in some additional areas. This will happen where the EPA has identified a need for nitrate reduction measures to improve water that were not considered under the Commission’s criteria for the two-year water quality review. The measure becomes applicable from 1 December as it had to apply within the timeframe of the current nitrates action programme to count as a measure under this programme. This was necessary to best prepare for discussions with the European Commission regarding Ireland’s next nitrates derogation. That is the very point the Senator made. Everything I am doing around derogation, while recognising the integral importance of dairy farming for our rural economy, the community, farmers and farm families, is to make sure we continue to have a derogation. It is absolutely pivotal to everything we do.

Within this available timeframe, the December date was selected to allow farmers maximum time to prepare and manage their cows through the normal spring calving lactation cycle. In simple terms, derogation farmers in these additional areas will have a limit of 247.5 kg N/ha this year, rather than 250 kg N/ha. The rate is not dropping from 250 kg N/ha to 220 kg N/ha this year. By being able to give them the maximum amount of time until December, the rate is effectively just short of the 250 kg N/ha for this year. It will be 220 kg N/ha from next year on. This allows farmers the time and space to be able to plan for the new rate.

As the Senator said, it was flagged at the time that the map would most likely change. In addition to publishing the map of the impacted areas in March, my Department has since identified the individual land parcel identification system, LPIS, parcels involved. My officials will shortly be in a position to write individualised letters to farmers potentially impacted by this change. Access to the derogation is contingent on improving water quality across the country. The agrifood sector is engaging in significant, unprecedented and very welcome action to reduce its impact on water quality.However, securing its renewal is the top priority for me. We are already starting to see results from the work led by farmers, with the most recently published EPA data showing significantly reduced nitrates concentrations in our rivers last year.

I have visited Timoleague in recent years and seen first-hand the work under way by farmers to progress developments in water quality. I hope to visit again soon.

Government is providing significant support for farmers as they seek to improve water quality, including the free water quality advisory service and the agriculture sustainability support and advisory programme, ASSAP, which includes 20 advisers paid for by the State and my Department and a further 30 advisers supported by industry working in water quality priority areas. We have a €60 million farming for water European Innovation Partnership, EIP, supporting investment in targeted on-farm water quality actions, which has been positively received by farmers, and 60% grant aid under TAMS for investment in manure storage and low-emission slurry application machinery, supporting improved slurry management, improving nutrient use efficiency and reducing our reliance on imported chemical nitrogen.

Noel O'Donovan (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his words. I genuinely see and understand his conviction about holding the derogation. For the farm families I represent, this is a business that needs certainty like any other business.

On holding a section at 250 kg N/ha, if we can statistically check the water quality in streams and rivers surrounding an area that is at 250, I believe it would support our argument for holding a 220 or a derogation in general. It is a point to be made to EU officials and it would help if we can show water quality is at a pristine level for a specific area at 250, even with intensive agriculture.

I acknowledge the Minister of State's visit to Timoleague before. There is an invitation for him to visit again and I hope he can do so in the near future. It is to give confidence to farmers in that area and the wider west Cork area. I can give it at my level and I know it is being expressed through all the media but there is nothing like hearing it on the ground. I thank the Minister for his work on this and for being in the Chamber this morning.

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising a vital issue. It is important it be discussed in the Seanad today. I accept his invitation to west Cork. I look forward to going down and meeting many of those farmers with him and seeing the great work happening in that space. This is all about trends and all about the science backing up our argument. We know the economic argument for this. I am clear that farmers can do more than one thing at a time. This is not a binary choice between defending farmers' incomes, minding a derogation and water quality. Farmers are as passionate about water quality as any of us and we are seeing improving trends, but we have a way to go with some of our pristine measures and those areas.

With regard to the steps being taken here, the additional areas were designed to allow maximum latitude within the December timeframe and maximum time for farmers to prepare for the change and manage their cows through the normal spring calving and lactation cycle, as well as fitting in with the programme for Government commitment to doing everything we can to retain this derogation. That will not be simple. A very big challenge lies ahead of us and I do not want anyone to be complacent about that.

The Senator raised a point about the EPA and other contributors to water quality. That is exactly why Government established the Cabinet subcommittee on water. We had our first meeting on 31 March and have another scheduled for June, chaired by the Taoiseach. This is not just about shining a light on what our agriculture and our farmers are doing but also about holding to account the EPA, our local authorities and Irish Water to make sure everybody pulls on the green jersey and we all do everything we can to retain a derogation beyond this year.