Minister Has to Come Clean on EU Correspondence on Derogation Pre-Conditions
IFA is seeking clarity from the Department of Agriculture about their proposed approach to retaining the Nitrates derogation.
Speaking after today’s meeting of the National Council, IFA President Francie Gorman said he had written to the Minister for Agriculture asking him to provide a copy of the letter sent by the EU Commission last month. The Minister cited this letter as the reason why he is now looking for Appropriate Assessments at catchment and/or sub catchment level.
“When we met with the Minister recently, we were very clear that he should publish the letter, but for some reason he has decided not to do so,” he said.
“The Minister for Agriculture is putting forward some very onerous pre-conditions to applying for the derogation. He said that this was based primarily on a letter from the EU Commission. We pointed out last week that his public statement is causing huge confusion, uncertainty and frustration amongst farmers. The Minister has to come clean and publish the Commission letter in full,” he said.
“The Dept is saying this requirement comes about because of a court judgment in the Netherlands. The Minister said that the Irish Attorney General has provided a view on this, and this should also be published. Our system of farming is very different from the Netherlands and the comparison is not justified, in our view,” he said.
Francie Gorman also questioned if an impact assessment of this change in direction has been carried out.
“When Ireland previously secured the derogation, it was based on Appropriate Assessment at national level. The Commission has to explain why this approach is now to change.”
The IFA President pointed out that the EU Commission has committed to reducing red tape and bureaucracy, but this move looks like going in the opposite direction.
“For farmers who are now in limbo, the Minister has to provide full transparency on the process to date and have real engagement with the IFA on the way forward,” he said.
