Michael Collins TD: “Government must stop applying double standards to Irish farmers”

Michael Collins TD, Leader of Independent Ireland, has today welcomed the EU’s decision to extend Ireland’s nitrates derogation for a further three years, describing it as a “sensible and balanced step that recognises the realities of farming life in rural Ireland.”

Deputy Collins said the decision, which gives around 7,000 farmers vital breathing space, is a vindication of those in the farming sector who have consistently shown a willingness to improve practices while feeding the country and sustaining the rural economy.

“It’s easy to sit in an office in Dublin and throw rocks at farmers who are trying to keep food on the shelves and businesses afloat,” said Collins. “But what’s getting harder to stomach is the one-eyed nature of the criticism coming from An Taisce and some so-called environmental advocates.”

In particular, the West Cork TD took aim at what he described as the disproportionate focus placed on farming, compared with the relative silence from those same groups when it comes to the State’s own failures on water quality.

“We are being lectured on science by groups that rarely show the same urgency when it comes to raw sewage flowing from over 15 towns and villages into our rivers and seas. That’s not hearsay; that’s from a 2025 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),” he said, he added: “The same report found that 59 per cent of licensed treatment plants in Ireland ‘fail to consistently meet the required standards’ for wastewater treatment.”

“Yet barely a word about the untreated effluent pouring into some of the cleanest coastal waters in Europe. But if a farmer spreads slurry within a mile of a stream, all hell breaks loose. The hypocrisy is staggering.”

Deputy Collins said that farmers are being scapegoated while the State continues to fall short of basic environmental standards in many urban and rural centres.

“This derogation isn’t a free pass: it comes with strict conditions, catchment-level monitoring, and enhanced compliance with EU directives. That’s more than can be said for the pace of progress on sewage infrastructure,” he said. "I want to thank our MEP Ciaran Mullooly for all the work he has done on this issue in Europe to protect the livelihood of farmers.

“Farmers are being asked to do more, and most are willing to step up; but let’s not pretend that pollution starts and ends with agriculture. There are towns and housing developments still discharging untreated sewage into our waterways, and nobody seems to want to talk about it. The State certainly isn’t making it a priority.”

Calling for a more balanced national conversation, Deputy Collins said the time had come to “stop the scapegoating and start the honest talking.”

“If we’re going to protect water quality – and we all want to – then we need to look at the full picture, not just the politically convenient part of it,” he said.

“Welcoming this extension is not about rejecting environmental responsibility. It’s about ensuring that policy is built on facts, not finger-pointing, and that rural Ireland is treated with fairness and respect.”

Deputy Collins said he would continue to support efforts to improve environmental outcomes on farms, but would not stand idly by while farmers are “hung out to dry by groups who close one eye when the State is polluting.”