Michael Fitzmaurice

To appeal to Irish MEP's to support a 'No' vote on the Nature Restoration Law.::While amendments have been made to the original proposal, there remains real and genuine concern among farmers, in particularly those operating on Hill and Natura 2000 sites, that there will be…

To seek clarity on some discrepancies in the Directive 2010/75/EU on Industrial Emissions, in advance of the vote in the European Parliament's Environment Committee on January 11th 2024.::To highlight the discrepancies between Annex 11 of the final text from the trilogue…

To emphasise that it is vital farmers have access to crop varieties produced by the latest plant breeding technologies in order to try and overcome the challenges they face, such as pests, disease resistance and perhaps, most significantly, climate change which continue to pose…

To communicate to the Irish Government, the vast number of issues and the frustration of farmers on the ground due a number of key issues, including::- The EU Green Deal/Farm to Fork policies and their impact on farm productivity/cost of production;::- The transformation of CAP…

That the Minister for Agriculture, Food, and the Marine deliver an exemption to the three-crop rule and crop diversification requirements for tillage farmers in 2024.::- The autumn of 2023 was very difficult nationally, Teagasc analysis estimates that 35,000 hectares less of…

To highlight the impact of the proposed Sustainable Use of Pesticides Regulation on Irish farming, especially the tillage sector.::To highlight to the Irish MEP's the potential impact the Sustainable Use Regulation (SUR) proposals could have on Irish farming.::- Tillage farming…

To express anger, following a meeting with the EU Commissioner for the Environment and the Minister for Agriculture, food and the Marine, that farmers are expected to reduce stock numbers by January 1st 2024 due to the midterm review of the Nitrates Derogation.::To emphasise…

To highlight that the failure to reach a qualified majority vote on the renewal of glyphosate is very concerning for the agricultural sector.::To point out that the European Food Safety Authority has identified no critical areas of concern with products containing glyphosate.…

To highlight that the criteria set out in Article 12 to assess water quality trends is deeply flawed. In June 2023 IFA provided a detailed submission to the Commission outlining these failings. Once again, we ask that the assessment criteria be reconsidered to ensure that only…

To highlight disappointment that Article 9, which relates to agricultural ecosystems, which had been deleted from the text agreed by the European Parliament in July has been re-introduced in the provisional political agreement for the proposed EU Nature Restoration Law agreed by…

To get substantial amendments to the EU proposed law in terms of removing certain articles, ensuring that no farmer owned land would be compulsorily re-wetted and that any measures carried out by farmers would reflect the permanent nature of change to that land holding and…

To welcomed the announcement that the EU and UK have agreed on a framework to facilitate trade between the EU, the UK and Northern Ireland.::To highlight that there is already significant co-operation between the farming sectors North and South on the island. Approximately one…

To seek a meeting with the members of the political parties on the implications of the mid-term review of the Nitrates Action programme agreed with the European Commission.::1. The IFA insist that the Minister must revisit this with the European Commission as this would mean…

Secure urgent action to address implementation challenges for MDR to ensure that the regulation works as intended in the EU

To highlight that the announcement by the EU Commission of a lump sum scheme to address the inputs crisis doesn't provide any extra EU funding for farmers.::To highlight that the Commission is merely allowing Member States to divert funding from their existing Rural Development…