Under the AIE Regulations to request:
- The number of enforcement actions taken by DAFM against derogation farmers for 2019, 2020 and 2021 to date
- The grounds for the enforcement actions
- The counties where the farms are located / The catchments impacted by those farms
foi@agriculture.gov.ie
Please find attached decision in regard to AIE Request – reference AIE-21-245
Regards
Bernard Harris
Agricultural inspector
Nitrates & Biodiversity Division
Pavilion A
Grattan Business Centre
Portlaoise
Co Laois
Having considered your request in relation to above, my decision is to part grant you access to the information sought as some of the information sought does not exist/is not held by this Department.
To explain further, Nitrates division works a year in arrears in the assessment of compliance with the Nitrates regulations for all herds, and with the Terms & Conditions of the Nitrates Derogation for those who applied. This is due to the legislative requirements and deadlines placed on farmers and the fact that they have the full relevant calendar year to farm. Due to this, at this point in 2021 there is no data available yet for 2021. So, data in relation to 2021 does not yet exist and is therefore refused.
I have however, granted your request in relation to the data available for 2019 and 2020. The information sought for questions 1 to 3 inclusive is contained in Appendix 1 at the bottom of this correspondence
This leads on to the next part of your request that I am decision maker for namely Question 4. Having considered your request in relation to above, my decision is to refuse you access to the information sought as this information does not exist/is not held by this Department. To explain we do not hold records in the format you request, so for the purposes of this request, the records do not exist as we do not hold records in the catchment format you requested.
If you have any queries in relation to this request, I can be contacted at bernard.harris@agriculture.gov.ie
Nitrates Derogations 2019 – Number Rejected from Derogation
| County | No’s Rejected |
| Cavan | 2 |
| Clare | 3 |
| Cork | 29 |
| Dublin | 1 |
| Galway | 2 |
| Kerry | 7 |
| Kildare | 3 |
| Kilkenny | 8 |
| Laois | 7 |
| Limerick | 11 |
| Louth | 6 |
| Meath | 4 |
| Monaghan | 1 |
| Offaly | 1 |
| Tipperary | 18 |
| Waterford | 6 |
| Westmeath | 1 |
| Wexford | 4 |
| Wicklow | 1 |
| Total Rejections 2019 | 115 |
Reason for Rejection
| Reason for Rejection | Number Rejected |
| No Fertiliser Accounts | 74 |
| No Farm Plan | 4 |
| No Soil Analysis | 19 |
| Rejected following Inspection | 18 |
| Total | 115 |
Nitrates Derogations 2020 – Number rejected from Derogation
| County | No’s Rejected |
| Carlow | 6 |
| Cavan | 5 |
| Clare | 2 |
| Cork | 46 |
| Donegal | 3 |
| Dublin | 1 |
| Galway | 7 |
| Kerry | 11 |
| Kildare | 8 |
| Kilkenny | 18 |
| Laois | 8 |
| Limerick | 20 |
| Longford | 2 |
| Mayo | 6 |
| Meath | 14 |
| Monaghan | 11 |
| Offaly | 5 |
| Roscommon | 1 |
| Sligo | 5 |
| Tipperary | 49 |
| Waterford | 18 |
| Westmeath | 4 |
| Wexford | 11 |
| Wicklow | 5 |
| Total Rejections 2020 | 266 |
Reason for Rejection
| Reason for Rejection | Number Rejected |
| No Fertiliser Accounts | 191 |
| No Farm Plan | 11 |
| No Soil Analysis | 46 |
| Rejected following Inspection | 18 |
| Total | 266 |