Relevant Matter
Public policy or programme
Public Policy Area
Environment
Period
1 Sep, 2022 to 31 Dec, 2022
Specific Details
Issues surrounding Water Quality and Supply
Intended results
To highlight how farmers are the custodians of the environment and understand their responsibility to comply with regulations to protect and improve water quality. Farmers understand that water is a critical natural resource, a resource they need a constant supply of for their animals and crops.erstand that water is a critical natural resource
Investment by Farmers
• Over €83 million has been invested in Low Emission Slurry Spreading (LESS) equipment by farmers.
• There has been a 47% increase in the use of Protected Urea (up to June 2022), and it now accounts up 16% of total nitrogen sales.
• Over 93% of participating farmers have engaged positively with the Agricultural Sustainability Support and Advisory Programme (ASSAP), agreeing to put in place farm specific measures to help improve water quality.
• From 2021, the runoff from farm roadways on all farms has been diverted away from waterbodies.
• Water troughs have been relocated to 20 metres away from water courses and watercourses have been fenced off on farms stocked above 170 kg nitrogen per hectare (N/ha).
• Additional conditions were introduced on derogation farms following the interim review which require all derogation farmers to use LESS, participate in a liming programme and reduce the crude protein content of concentrate fed to cows.
Time delay and lag times need to be fully considered in water policy
• Farmers are disappointed that the impact of this investment on water quality was not captured in the EPA Water Quality in Ireland 2013-2018 report, as most of the measures introduced in the Nitrates Action Programme 2017-2021 were implemented after the monitoring period of the report.
• It is critical that consideration of time lags, the time between the adoption of management changes and the detection of measurable improvements in water quality, become standard in the design of Ireland's water quality policies. By quantifying time lag the most effective management and mitigation practices can be designed. It is vital that time lag in each catchment is quantified so expectations can be adjusted accordingly.
The Right Measures in the Right Place
• To highlight that training and knowledge transfer, particularly on nutrient management planning, is deemed necessary to support changes in management practices at farm level.
• The ACP states that supporting farmers to make better decisions regarding how they manage nutrient applications is likely to be the single area with the greatest potential to improve outcomes for water quality on Irish farms - delivering better profits the farmer while reducing risk of nutrient loss to water.
Nitrates Action Programme 2022 - 2027
To highlight how the new Nitrates Action Programme 2022 to 2027 continues to place increased and demanding regulations on all farms with additional introduced measures on dairy farms.
• The financial implications of the new measures and the risk of increasing the financial vulnerability of more farms needs to be addressed. Where a measure has financial implications for farmers, grant aid and Accelerated Capital Allowance (ACA) schemes must be introduced to support their adoption to enable farmers to realise greater environmental standards, which benefit the entire country.
• It is essential that the measures being introduced by farmers are given time to work, estimating the time delay for improvements to occur is a critical issue for a variety of reasons, including ensuring that expectations are realistic. The current 2-year interim review process in the Nitrates Action Programme is causing serious concern to farmers, as it does not provide adequate time from the success of the measures implemented and their impact on water quality to be accurately determined.
• Farmers are deeply concerned in relation the possibility farmers farming under derogation could be reduced from 250kg organic nitrogen/ha per year to 220kg organic nitrogen/ha per year from 2024. This potential 12% reduction in stocking rates will have a very significant financial impact on farmers who will be forced to reduce cattle numbers or seek additional land to farm.
Water Supply
To highlight that the agriculture sector in Ireland has a low water footprint for food production, with most of the water used in production being “green” that is rainfall water rather than water abstracted from rivers. The UN has placed Ireland as a top performer in food production with a 0.2% stress rating for water, compared to a 40% rating in the UK.
Water abstraction compensation payments
To seek that where water abstraction takes place on farmland and results in land sterilisation, crop loss and disturbance, fair and equitable compensation must be paid to farmers. IFA has, over a long number of years, advocated for the development of an equitable national package of measures, including compensation to replace the ad-hoc arrangements implemented by local authorities and now Irish Water.
IFA has serious concerns in relation to what is proposed in the Bill under compensation, our main concerns include
1. The limit to any claim for compensation to within 2 years of the authorised abstractions commencing. This would potentially allow the State to side-step its existing obligations to farmers, resulting in a haphazard approach across the country by differing local authorities and many compensation issues remaining unresolved. This inequity must be addressed by -
- Remove the time limit on a claim for compensation, - Oblige Irish Water to notify all farmers directly by registered post that they may be impacted by a proposed water abstraction; and - Develop a national protocol and package of measures, which equitably resolves concerns regarding losses arising, where abstractions are imposed.
The requirement to notify impacted farmers will enable them to engage with the planning process and bring their views to the attention of relevant agencies.
2. It is highly unusual when it comes to re-dress that that the burden of “proof of loss” would be placed on individual farmers. For example, Irish Water's sister company Gas Networks Ireland (GNI) recognises from the outset that a loss exists and endeavours to address such losses through negotiation. GNI's approach represents established practice, and the adversarial “proof of loss” obligations are avoided.
The draft legislation should be amended to facilitate positive discussions to bring matters to conclusion.
3. The guidance provided to determine compensation is inadequate. The 1942 Act clearly sets out the relevant legislation for the determination of compensation, however the Bill provides absolutely no framework for the determination of compensation. The Bill should be amended to address this and provide clarity that the existing framework for compensation will continue to apply.
4. Mediation is a widely used and acceptable alternative dispute resolution mechanism. For individual citizens such as farmers, mediation represents a more affordable mechanism to arrive at an outcome, where an agreement is not reached. It is proposed that the Bill include an obligation on all parties to firstly engage in mediation, in default of agreement.
To emphasise that the notice of intention to abstract water must be directly communicated with all farmers impacted, including any farmer in a zone of sterilisation.
The Bill should require Irish Water to disclose the full impact of the proposal to abstract or increase abstraction of water, to the farmers impacted (host farmers and adjoining farmers). There should be a provision within the Bill that sets out how the impact of the land sterilisation zone will be mitigated and compensated.
Non-domestic water charges
To highlight how the new Non-Domestic Water Tariff system, introduced by the The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) on the 1st October 2021, has resulted in farmers now paying multiple water connection charges due to their holdings being fragmented.
The new tariff system has resulted in some farmers being disproportionately charged based on usage at some of the connections points.
IFA is seeking a fairer and more equitable tariff system for farmers with the non-domestic water charge linked to linked to Water Point Reference Number (WPRN) rather than on a per connection basis.
Name of person primarily responsible for lobbying on this activity
Tim Cullinan IFA President, Geraldine O'Sullivan IFA Senior Policy Executive
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.
Francis Noel Duffy
TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)
Joe Flaherty
TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)
Thomas Gould
TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)
Emer Higgins
TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)
Steven Matthews
TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)
Paul McAuliffe
TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)
Cian O'Callaghan
TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)
Richard O'Donoghue
TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)
Eoin Ó Broin
TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)
Victor Boyhan
Senator (Seanad)
John Cummins
Senator (Seanad)
Mary Fitzpatrick
Senator (Seanad)
Rebecca Moynihan
Senator (Seanad)
Mary Seery Kearney
Senator (Seanad)
Darragh O'Brien
Minister (Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage)
Peter Burke
Minister of State (Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage)
Sean Fleming
Minister of State (Department of Finance)
Carol Nolan
TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)