Relevant Matter
Public policy or programme
Public Policy Area
Agriculture
Period
1 May, 2023 to 31 Aug, 2023
Specific Details
Roundtable on Agriculture with the Taoiseach
Intended results
Nature Restoration Law
- to highlight how the proposed EU Nature Restoration Law will have a negative effect on the rural economy and the future of Irish Farming. These proposals are being driven from the EU without any clear data or impact assessment.
- to insist that the Minister of State for Heritage Malcolm Noonan, pushes back on the current proposals and any future proposals set forward must clearly ensure farmers and future generations can actively farm their land, while safeguarding the future of rural Ireland.
- to ensure that an Nature Restoration Laws put forward do not have an impact on the future of Irish farming and farmer's ability to work their land and produce food, these proposals only serve to reduce production and increase our risk to food security.
- to emphasise that although much of the focus to date has been proposed targets on restoring and rewetting drained peatlands under agriculture use, there are more comprehensive restoration targets proposed encompassing habitats and species protected under the Habitats Directive.
- to highlight the lack of clarity on the potential impact of the proposed regulation on farmland and production which is very worrying. IFA calls for a full impact assessment to be undertaken to quantify the area of farmland that will be affected to ensure the proposed targets are realistic and fair and are not detrimental to the continuation of farming.
Nitrates Derogation
- to insist that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine revisits the Nitrates Derogation Condition. The SI (393/2022) needs to be reversed. The Minister agreed with the European commission to an interim review of the Nitrates Action Programme in 2023. This means Ireland would default to a maximum limit under the derogation to 220kg?N/ha down from 250kg?N/ha from January 2024. A nitrates derogation allows family farms to carry stocking rates above 170kg/N/ha up to 250kg/N/ha.
- this interim review is only based on comparing water quality between 2021 and 2022. measures coming into place in 2022 and 2023 will not have had a chance to improve water quality. What is happening
Payments
- to highlight that the Department of Agriculture, Food, & the Marine's plan to delay certain payments to farmers by up to a month in 2023 would be totally unacceptable.
Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR)
- to query why the Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR) cannot be used to assist vulnerable sectors such as beef, sheep, tillage and horticulture, which have clearly been hit by the consequences of Brexit.
Name of person primarily responsible for lobbying on this activity
Brian Rushe IFA Deputy President, Damian McDonald IFA Director General, Elaine Farrell IFA Director of Governance & Oireachtas Engagement
Did any Designated Public Official(DPO) or former Designated Public Official(DPO) carry out lobbying activities on your behalf in relation to this return? You must include yourself, and answer Yes, if you are a current DPO or a DPO at any time in the past. (What is a Designated Public Official?)
No
Did you manage or direct a grassroots campaign?
No
Was this lobbying done on behalf of a client?
No
Lobbying activity
The following activities occurred for this specific Subject Matter Area.
Informal communication (2-5)
Designated public officials lobbied
The following DPOs were lobbied during this return period on this specific Subject Matter Area. These DPOs were involved in at least one of the Lobbying Activities listed above, but not necessarily all of them.
As returns are specific to a Subject Matter Area the above Lobbying Activities may be associated with multiple returns.
Barry Cassidy
Special Adviser (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine)
Charlie McConalogue
Minister (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine)
Leo Varadkar
Taoiseach (Department of the Taoiseach)
Patrick Donohoe
Special Adviser (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine)
Philip O'Callaghan
Special Adviser (Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment)
Martin Heydon
Minister of State (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine)
Pippa Hackett
Minister of State (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine)