EU Commissioner for the Environment to visit State for nitrates derogation discussion

The EU Commissioner for the Environment Virginijus Sinkevičius will visit Ireland to discuss the nitrates derogation following an invitation from the Government, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said.

Mr Varadkar added that he would explore any flexibilities that may be possible with the commissioner but did not want to “raise false expectations as to what’s possible and what’s not”.

Following a meeting with the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) last month on the fringes of his party’s think-in, the Fine Gael leader said he would invite the EU Environment Commissioner to Ireland.

Mr Varadkar’s intervention came despite Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue’s insistence that the commissioner’s decision to end an exemption for Irish farmers was not going to be reversed.

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The commission has lowered the maximum nitrate allowance for Ireland from 250kg per hectare to 220kg per hectare. Irish dairy farmers will be affected by the deduction, which will force them to reduce their herds or find additional land.

Speaking in the Dáil on Wednesday, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the Government’s handling of the nitrate derogation had caused “a huge amount of anger and stress on farmers”.

Ms McDonald said Mr Varadkar had made a commitment some weeks ago to invite the commissioner to come to Ireland to “reopen” the matter with him and asked “was this meeting going to happen?”

In response, the Taoiseach said he and Mr McConalogue had invited the commissioner to come to Ireland to “discuss this matter with us, to visit an Irish farm, and see how well managed our beef and dairy sector is”.

“He has agreed to come, we don’t have a date as yet for that to happen but I look forward to that engagement,” Mr Varadkar said.

“Of course, the over-reaching priority for Government is to make sure that we hold on to the 220[kg] derogation. I believe reducing that to 175[kg] would inflict serious damage on farming income and on our food export sector which is important to society and the economy as a whole. The decision is made in relation to 250, but we have got some flexibility on that.”

Mr Varadkar said maps which had been released on Tuesday night provided for around 250 farms to continue to use the 250kg allowance.

“We will of course explore any other flexibilites that may be possible with the commissioner when he visits and meets with me and the minister but I don’t want to raise false expectations as to what’s possible and what’s not,” he added.