Seanad Report: The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Dick Roche, made it clear that he would only go back to the European Commission to seek changes on fertiliser application limits if they were supported by robust underlying science.
The Minister strongly criticised a Fine Gael motion calling on him to implement the nitrates directive in a manner which was practical and workable for all farmers and did not unnecessarily go beyond what was required under EU law. While saying that if genuine improvements could be made to the regulations he would be prepared to consider them, Mr Roche emphasised that he would not do anything which would be detrimental to the interests of Irish water quality.
He called on Fine Gael to withdraw its motion, saying that the nitrogen limits prescribed by him in the regulations were less onerous than limits set out in the 1996 guidelines introduced by a Fine Gael-led government. How could the second largest party in the State now be so careless about water quality and the public health of the nation, he asked.
Mr Roche said that subsequent to his making the regulations last December, Teagasc had indicated that it might be possible to review part of their advice on the application of phosphorus in a way which could improve the effectiveness of the regulations. He understood that the Teagasc board had met and he hoped that the material they produced was copperfastened science, objective science that would stand scrutiny, "because they will have done damage to the whole cause if that is not the case."
He would not be involved further in prevarication. "If we don't make this decision now, a worse decision will be forced on us in the near future," he warned.
James Bannon (FG) claimed that the Government was trying to introduce some kind of draconian new licensing system for farms and farmers by the back door. "The Minister has let us down. He is not engaging in meaningful consultation with the farming organisations. Farmers right across the country are demanding that this matter be resolved in a logical and scientific way as a matter of urgency."
The House passed by 34 votes to 16 an amendment endorsing the Government's policy of securing the optimal and least-cost arrangements for compliance with the nitrates directive, "thus protecting as far as possible the interests both of the environment and of those Irish farmers whose activities are affected."
Three Labour members voted with Fine Gael.
Earlier, Feargal Quinn (Ind) said he totally disagreed with the Fine Gael motion because it pandered to the farmers' lobby. "I think that the Fine Gael members of this House should he ashamed of themselves for lending themselves to this particular manoeuvre." He said it was time we woke up to the fact that what was in the farmers' interests was not always in the interests of the whole country.
Mr Quinn said the truly scandalous thing was that all the improper pressure on Teagasc personnel by farmers' representatives seemed to have had an effect, and Teagasc were apparently now ready to change their position. "If Teagasc does so, it will have totally compromised its scientific integrity and become instead just a mouthpiece for farming interests."