Shortle, G. and Jordan, P. (2017). Agricultural Catchments Programme –
Phase 2 Report. Teagasc, Wexford
Potential AIE (draft)
Catchment selection criteria
Farm selection criteria
Data on the location of the sites
Summary reports on water quality in each catchment
Raw data generated from each site
Note: if testing in these catchments informs decision making on derogation herds, but the locations and raw data are unpublished it is impossible to do any analysis on the data, and related catchments
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.
Funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, staff have been working with 300 farmers across six catchments in Ireland for over ten years.
The ACP was put into place to analyse the Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) measures that were implemented under the EU Nitrates Directive.
Plant nutrients such as nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are essential for crop production. The implementation of the Nitrates Directive into Irish law regulates the management of these nutrients and aims to maintain productivity while improving water quality.
The main water quality challenges concerning nutrients are:
Leaching of N as nitrate from the soil into groundwater which can result in unacceptably high nitrate levels in drinking water
Runoff of soluble forms of N and P from soils or manure, or movement of P enriched soil to drainage channels, ditches or streams which can cause eutrophication
Eutrophication is the over-nourishment and subsequent growth of aquatic plants. It can be caused by excessive concentrations of N and P in water and lead to de-oxygenation of water-bodies, changes in ecological structure and an overall imbalance. Excessive N as nitrate in drinking water supplies can also be toxic above a maximum acceptable concentration.
Role:
The ACP was initiated to provide a comprehensive scientific evaluation of the GAP regulations in Ireland, while the catchments are representative of farming in all of Ireland. The use of N and P is an economic, aquatic environment and farm management concern. Therefore four component programme tasks are being undertaken with original data collection and assessments. These are:
Assessing how management trends, habits and attitudes are affected by the GAP regulations and what the perceived implications are for farm incomes
Investigating how nutrients at the soil and farm scale are influenced in terms of supply/availability and potential mobilisation to water
Defining the main pathways for mobilised nutrients in each farming catchment
Identifying the load and concentration patterns of nutrients from the catchments, in each river
It is vital that farming stakeholders are fully aware and receptive to the management implications of the legislation, so these tasks are supported by a Teagasc advisory team in each catchment. The ACP outcomes are continued assessments and recommendations of how effective the GAP regulations are in terms of farm economics and the links between farm management, landscape and water quality.
To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of inspections carried out by local authorities under the 4th Nitrates Action Programme in 2018, 2019 and 2020; the number of non-compliance incidents registered; the number of enforcements and penalties issued; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Response:
Local authority functions, including enforcement activities, are set out under Part 6 of the European Union (Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of Waters) Regulations 2017.
Under these regulations, local authorities are required to undertake inspections to determine on-farm compliance with the provisions of the regulations on farms within their jurisdiction.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has responsibility within the regulations for oversight of local authority enforcement functions and for reporting on implementation and compliance with the requirements of the regulations.
This is managed through the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement and through the collaborative Network for Ireland’s Environmental Compliance and Enforcement (NIECE network).
This is in addition to the general oversight of local authority environmental functions assigned to the EPA by section 63 of the Environmental Protection Agency Act, 1992.
Information on the number of inspections carried out, non-compliances identified, enforcement activities and prosecutions by local authorities under the Nitrates Action Programme is collated by individual local authorities and reported to the EPA, who publish the consolidated enforcement data as part of their regular Local Authority Environmental Enforcement Activity Report.
A copy of the latest report is available on the EPA’s website at
Any previous FOIs that mention biosolids, biofert or sewage sludge as fertiliser
Any correspondence between Bord Bia and Dept of Agriculture and/or EPA that mention biosolids, biofert or sewage sludge
Date range 2019 to current
Response to AIE submitted 15/11/21
Section 3.6(a) of the SBLAS states:
“The storage and or use of raw or treated sewage, sewage sludges or sewage-derived products on Bord Bia certified farms is prohibited.”
Where a non-compliance is identified regarding this requirement, the herd will be excluded from the Scheme and a re-application will not be accepted until 12 months after the date that the last prohibited product was stored or spread on farm.
This same critical requirement exists for the SDAS which sets out at section 3.6(a):
“Raw or treated sewage / sludges are prohibited from being used on Bord Bia certified farms.”
The full standards for SDAS and SBLAS are available on Bord Bia’s website at:
