Delay in Planning Exemption Halting Investment In Slurry Storage  –  ICMSA.

The delay in announcing the planning exemption for slurry storage is resulting in farmers now postponing investments in slurry storage and this is hugely regrettable in the context of our efforts to improve water quality and immediate Government action is required to address this delay.   The current limbo that some farmers find themselves in 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, according to ICMSA Deputy President and Chairperson of ICMSA’s Farm and Rural Affair Committee, Mr. Eamon Carroll.

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 and the reality is that if a farmer had applied for planning permission in January 2025, they would be though the process at this stage in most cases but they took the Government word on this issue and are now in limbo unable to invest.

Subsequently, Mr. Carroll said, the Government outlined the requirement for a public consultation and what ICMSA is saying now, tell the farmers immediately what the Government is specifically proposing, what will be allowed in the planning exemption and what will not be allowed, what date the exemption will be in place from and based on this information, a farmer can make a judgement call to wait for the exemption or go ahead and apply for planning permission.

It is hugely disappointing that at this stage, many farmers are going to miss out on the best months of the year for doing slurry storage investment on their farm and this is down to mis-information from our Government on the planning exemption and this is really hampering farmer efforts in terms of improving water quality.   This needs to stop and Mr. Carroll called on the Government to immediately publish the detail and allow farmers to make an informed decision on how to proceed with water quality investments on their farms.   Farmers are willing their part and the Government needs to step up immediately on this issue, concluded Mr. Carroll.

ENDS  12 June 2025

Eamon Carroll is at (087) 6312945.

ICMSA Head Office (061) 314677.