‘There’s nothing to say that this is the last derogation’

“There’s nothing to say that this is the last derogation, or anything like that. There’s nothing in the Commission’s communication to say it is the last, either,” said Tadgh. He was delivering a keynote address at Agri Aware’s recent industry event, Food for Thought, where he addressed a number of topical issues affecting Irish agriculture. The derogation – or more accurately, annex III of the Nitrates Directive – was, unsurprisingly, one such topic.
The extension of the nitrates derogation, he said, was widely misunderstood outside of the agricultural world, and he criticised some of the national media coverage of the subject, specifically calling out a recent Martyn Turner cartoon in The Irish Times, which he said showed that the cartoonist knew nothing of the subject matter of his sketch.

The use of language around the extension is important and the word ‘derogation’ itself is unhelpful, Tadgh said, as it implies that it has given Ireland an opt-out of the rules and regulations that everyone else in Europe must follow. This is not the case, he said.
“It is all based on the Nitrates Directive, introduced in the EU in 1991. And that, effectively, placed an EU-wide limit on what levels of stock you would have on every hectare and what amount of organic nutrients you could apply on every hectare. In that directive, there is an annex that states that some Member States, if they meet certain criteria, can apply for permission to have an increased amount. It’s called an 'annex III' directive, it’s not called a derogation directive. And we’re perfectly entitled to apply for it. And if we meet the conditions, we get it, that’s the process,” he said.

Positive but more to do

In terms of the impact of the extension on farmers, Tadgh pointed to the costly requirement of enhanced storage facilities and the commitment to comply with the Habitats Directive. In relation to the former, he highlighted that the minimum required slurry storage for dairy cows is set to increase by 21 per cent by October 1, 2028, and additional soiled water storage is also required. In relation to the latter, he said: “We’ve committed to undertake [appropriate] assessments on a catchment and sub-catchment basis in relation to our habitats – ground that designated for special areas of conservation – and the outcome of these assessments will decide what’s going to happen for the next derogation.”
In terms of the nitrates levels in water, he said Ireland is showing positive trends, but we have more to do. “The 2025 figures haven’t been released yet and they’re likely to be up on 2024. The national figure in 2024 was the same as in 2010 when we had half a million fewer dairy cows in the country,” he explained.
For context, these figures were 7.2mg/L NO₃ in 2010, and 7.1mg/L NO₃ in 2024. However, he said, if you look at the nitrate levels on a bottle of shop-bought water [ingredients list], that figure is 9mg/L NO₃. So that is the level in the rivers today.
“Regional figures will be higher in some parts of the country, particularly the southeast mainly due to their climatic conditions, light soils, and less rainfall. If you get less rainfall, you have a higher concentration of nitrate because you have less water to carry the nitrate.”

He highlighted Ireland’s position across all of Europe in terms of exceeding the drinking water standard (50mg/L NO₃) during the last reporting period of the Nitrates Directive 2016-2019. Ireland placed third lowest in all of Europe. He commented: “The average in the EU is 12-13 per cent. In Ireland, it is 1.5 per cent, the third lowest in the EU.” See Table 1.

The cost of CBAM

Addressing the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), implemented in January 2026, Tadgh said it would have a significant cost impact for Irish farmers in an already high-cost ecomony. The EU is using the CBAM to help it achieve cuts in emissions by 55 per cent by 2030, and to reduce emissions from imported goods. The latter is the issue for Ireland, Tadgh explained: “It’s been brought in on imports of steel iron, fertiliser, aluminium, and electricity. What they’re trying to do is protect the internal EU producers from external competition that they say is producing at lower environmental standards.”
But Ireland imports more than 80 per cent of its urea from outside the EU, and CBAM is set to increase the cost by 10 per cent in 2026, according to Teagasc. This is on top of a 15 per cent increase in fertiliser prices in 2025, according to the CSO.
Tadgh continued: “If you make fertiliser in the EU, you’re not subject to CBAM because it’s only on a product being imported. But the issue we have here is that we don’t have a fertiliser industry. So we import all our fertiliser, and a whole pile of that is from outside of the EU.
“And we use much more urea than other Member States where CAN would be much more prominent in mainland Europe. But we still import over a third of our CAN from non-EU countries as well.”
He continued: “So the Commission has been under pressure to address the issue. And they did reduce the potential charge through a lot of work in collaboration with the fertiliser vendors in Ireland, with ICOS, the ACORN Group, and our office in Brussels, by about 40 per cent.” He said they have also reduced other tariffs and have pledged to monitor market disruption with potential suspension if significant price impact is evident. But, he said, in such a high-cost economy, any increase will have a knock-on impact. We have the second highest minimum wage in Europe, and we have the highest electricity costs in all of Europe.

Who will pay?

A 2025 Eurobarometer survey on the most important factors for citizens when buying food found that 60 per cent prioritised cost, while just 15 per cent said it was the impact on the environment. Commenting, Tadgh said: “Four times as many people thought cost was more important than the impact on the environment. So the question I’m asking is who’s going to pay for all the sustainability costs and measures that are being imposed on us? Nobody’s talking about this.”