Investments being ‘postponed' due to planning exemption delay
That is according to the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA), which said that the postponing of investments is 'hugely regrettable' in the context of our efforts to improve water quality.
The farm organisation called for 'immediate government action' to address this delay.
Eamon Carroll, the ICMSA deputy president, said: 'The current limbo that some farmers find themselves in is due to the delay in publishing the long-awaited planning exemption on slurry storage, and a level of clarity could be brought to this issue in a matter of days if the political will is there to do so.
'Farmers took the government announcement in autumn 2024 in good faith that a planning exemption would be in place in January 2025 and six months later, we are no further on.
'The reality is that if a farmer had applied for planning permission in January 2025, they would be through the process at this stage in most cases, but they took the government's word on this issue and are now in limbo, unable to invest,' Carroll said.
The ICMSA is calling on the government to outline exactly what it is proposing; what will be allowed and not allowed under the planning exemption; and what date the exemption will be in place from.
'Based on this information, a farmer can make a judgement call to wait for exemption or go ahead and apply for planning permission,' Carroll said.
'It is hugely disappointing that at this stage, many farmers are going to miss out on the best months of the year for doing storage investment on their farm…this is really hampering farmer efforts in terms of improving water quality.
'This needs to stop,' he added, calling on the government to immediately publish the detail and allow farmers to make and informed decision on how to proceed with water quality investments on their farmers.
'Farmers are willing to do their part and the government needs to step up immediately on this issue,' he added.
The relevant ministers have previously indicated that exemption under planning rules for slurry storage is 'expected' to be in place to coincide with the tranche of the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) that is set to open on September 6 and close on December 5.
At the beginning of April, a delegation from the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) met with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon, and Minister of State with responsibility for housing, John Cummins, on the promised exemption for stand-alone slurry storage.
It was during this meeting that the September timeline was given, it is understood.
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