Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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698. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the steps being taken to address water quality in areas where pollution from agricultural practices has occurred that contributes to nutrient losses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34442/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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There is currently an unprecedented, significant and very welcome engagement across the entire agri-food industry to drive improvements in our water quality, and the Government is playing its part too.

The current Nitrates Action Programme, introduced in 2022, provides the strongest protections yet regarding water quality from an agricultural perspective. Earlier this year, the regulatory elements of that programme were further strengthened through the introduction of a number of additional measures by my colleague, Minister Browne.

In addition, financial support is available for farmers willing to go beyond regulatory requirements. For example, under TAMS, the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme, over €138m has been paid in grant aid to farmers since 2015 specifically supporting investments in manure storage and modern technology for the application of animal manures to land. This value illustrates the level of investment being made by our farmers as well as the Government’s commitment in this regard. Furthermore, in January, I launched the new 60% TAMS grant for capital investments in manure storage which, based on application numbers, is witnessing strong farmer interest.

The measures outlined above all apply nationally. In areas where agriculture has been identified as a pressure on water quality there are additional supports for farmers. For example, under ASSAP, the Agricultural Sustainability Support and Advisory Programme, free confidential advice is available to farmers. This is now complemented by financial support for additional targeted actions by farmers under the ‘Farming for Water’ European Innovation Partnership, which launched last year, with a budget of €60m.

Last August, my Department published 'Water and agriculture - a collaborative approach', which sets out more detail on the many substantive actions underway to improve water quality from an agricultural perspective.

The Government is building on this through strong commitments in the Programme for Government, including the Cabinet Committee chaired by An Taoiseach which is working to co-ordinate water quality improvement across all sectors.