The Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS) said today that farmers and their co-operatives are fully committed to improving water quality and supporting environmental best practice across all farms.

ICOS highlights important green-shoots in today’s EPA Water Quality Report, that need to be better understood by all and built upon, including the notable improvement in water quality in the Priority Areas of Concern and the overall reduction in nutrient concentrations.

The President of ICOS, Edward Carr said “We recognise the urgent need to improve trends in water quality. Today’s report by the EPA highlights the extent of the challenge, but also points to strong evidence to show that targeted and coordinated measures spearheaded by the farming sector and government agencies including Teagasc and LAWPRO are beginning to show progress is being made. This is important to point out as farmers and their co-ops are fully committed to improving water quality and doing the right thing for the environment.”

Mr. Carr said “I firmly believe that the engagement and work being done by farmers and their co-ops on water quality will deliver the improvement we all want to see. As a sector, we have supported the extension of the ASSAP programme to over 50 water quality specialists working on a day-to-day basis with farmers, of which 30 are directly employed by co-ops.  This has resulted in over 3,000 water quality visits by Co-op ASSAP teams in 2024.”

Edward Carr concluded “The issue of water quality is front and centre for the farming sector, with the co-ops actively raising awareness of water quality issues through multiple farmer events, targeted support through co-op sustainability programmes, the Farming for Water EIP and the development of co-ordinated catchment level approaches such as the Blackwater and Slaney Catchment Programmes.”