Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Commission Implementing Decision granting Ireland's current Nitrates Derogation sets out the requirement to conduct on-farm inspections on at least 10% of farms with a Nitrates Derogation.

Of the 6,726 Nitrates Derogation applicants in 2022, a total of 718 received an on-farm inspection by officials from my Department.

These on-farm inspections identified 47 applicants that were non-compliant with the Terms and Conditions of the 2022 Nitrates Derogation. In line with the Commission Implementing Decision, these applicants were rejected from the 2022 Nitrates Derogation and subsequently ineligible to avail of the Nitrates Derogation in 2023. These farmers were then subject to the limit of 170 kg livestock manure nitrogen per hectare applicable to farmers in the absence of a Nitrates Derogation. If the farmer breached that limit, or where other breaches of Statutory Management Requirement (SMR) 1 were identified on inspection, a penalty was applied to the applicant's Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and other Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) schemes, as appropriate.

In addition, in 2022 a further 41 Nitrates Derogation applicants were found on inspection to be non-compliant with SMR 1. In each of these cases a sanction was applied to the applicant's BPS and other CAP schemes, as appropriate.

The outcome of the inspections conducted in 2023, is not yet available as in some cases fertiliser records are still being checked following submission and final inspection details are not yet fully recorded. This work is progressing with the objective of submitting details regarding 2023 to the European Commission by the 30th of June 2024 in line with the requirements set down in the Commission Implementing Decision granting Ireland's current Nitrates Derogation.

Note: In 2022 SMR 1 referred to the Protection of Waters against Pollution caused by Nitrates. The aim of this requirement is to reduce the pollution of waters caused by nitrates and phosphates occurring from agricultural land and farmyards. This SMR applies to all CAP beneficiaries. Under the CAP Strategic Plan, effective from 2023, it is now referred to as SMR 2.