The Problem in Plain English
Ireland has a legal problem that is entirely of our own making. EU law — the Sustainable Use Directive, now being replaced by an even stronger Regulation — allows Member States to grant exemptions from the general aerial spraying ban for drones that demonstrably reduce pesticide risk compared to ground-based equipment. Germany granted that exemption in 2022. France has frameworks in place. Spain's vineyard operators have been using agri-drones for years.
Ireland has done nothing. There is no derogation. There are no licensed products for aerial application. There has been no public consultation, no Oireachtas debate, and no DAFM policy initiative on this issue.
The result is that Irish farmers are locked out of technology that reduces pesticide use by up to 70%, could save farms money, could provide new income streams for rural operators, and directly supports Ireland's EU environmental obligations — while our EU neighbours move ahead without us.
This is not a complex technology problem. It is not a safety problem — the evidence is overwhelming that agri-drone spraying is safer than traditional methods. It is a policy inertia problem. And that is exactly the kind of problem that political engagement can fix.
The Three Specific Things Ireland Needs
A National Derogation from the Aerial Application Prohibition
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) must create a formal derogation under the transposed Sustainable Use Directive — and later under the incoming SUR Regulation — that explicitly permits drone application of plant protection products where the drone meets defined safety criteria.
This is the same process Germany used in November 2022. It requires a ministerial decision, a regulatory instrument, and defined criteria for permitted operations. It does not require new primary legislation. It can be done with existing ministerial powers.
Licensing of Plant Protection Products for Aerial Application
Even with a derogation in place, you cannot legally apply a product that is not specifically authorised for aerial use. Currently, no plant protection products in Ireland carry aerial application authorisation. This is partly because there has been no point in applying for such authorisation while the derogation doesn't exist — a chicken-and-egg problem.
DAFM's Pesticide Registration and Controls Division needs to proactively work with product registrants — the major agrichemical companies — to add aerial application authorisation to suitable existing products. This process can run in parallel with the derogation development.
A National Pilot Programme for Agri-Drone Spraying
Ireland should not wait for full regulation before gathering national evidence. A structured national pilot programme — modelled on academic and commercial pilots already running in Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK — would allow DAFM and the IAA to gather Irish-specific data on drift, efficacy, and farmer uptake. This data becomes the evidence base for the permanent derogation.
Teagasc, with its network of research farms, is the obvious partner for this. A Teagasc-led agri-drone spraying pilot programme, with DAFM support and IAA involvement, could be operational within a year if political will existed.
Who Actually Decides This
Understanding who you need to target is as important as understanding what to ask for. Here are the key decision-makers on Irish agri-drone policy:
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine
The senior political decision-maker. A ministerial direction to DAFM to develop an agri-drone framework is the fastest possible path to change. Members of the Oireachtas Agriculture Committee have direct access to the Minister.
Priority: HighDepartment of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM)
The department responsible for both the derogation and the product licensing. The Pesticide Registration and Controls Division handles product authorisation. The department responds to both ministerial direction and sustained stakeholder engagement.
Priority: HighIrish Aviation Authority (IAA)
Responsible for the drone aviation side — EASA implementation, operator registration, licence oversight. The IAA is largely ready; the PDRA framework from EASA provides the path forward. But the IAA needs clarity on the DAFM position before it can issue meaningful authorisations for spraying operations.
Priority: MediumTeagasc
Ireland's agricultural research authority. Teagasc conducting evidence-based research on agri-drone efficacy in Irish conditions would provide the scientific cover for DAFM to act. Teagasc researchers who understand precision agriculture are natural allies.
Priority: MediumIFA — Irish Farmers Association
The IFA's backing for agri-drone policy change would be the single most powerful catalyst for DAFM action. If IFA puts agri-drone derogation on its policy agenda and takes it to DAFM and the Minister, change happens faster. Engaging your local IFA committee is a practical first step.
Priority: HighYour Local TD
Particularly TDs on the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine. A question to the Minister from a TD on the Committee — especially a rural TD whose constituents include farmers — is one of the most direct routes to getting this issue on DAFM's agenda.
Priority: HighThe Case for Action: Six Arguments That Land
When engaging with TDs, IFA reps, or DAFM officials, these are the six arguments that are hardest to dismiss:
Ireland has signed up to the EU's Farm to Fork 50% pesticide reduction target. You cannot credibly commit to that target while blocking the primary technology that makes precision reduction possible. DAFM cannot have it both ways.
Studies from China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and European vineyard operations consistently show 30–70% pesticide reduction rates with agri-drone application. This is not an experimental technology — it is a proven one. Ireland is not waiting for the science. The science is done.
Germany — with comparable agricultural conditions to Ireland — approved agri-drones under 50kg in November 2022 and has reported positive outcomes. Ireland has a working model to follow. There is no reason to develop policy from scratch when a tested framework exists next door.
The EU Commission's own proposed regulation states that drone application "is likely to help reduce the risks to human health and the environment compared to use of land-based application equipment." This is the regulator saying drones are safer than tractors. Ireland's prohibition on the safer option is incoherent.
Irish farmers regularly lose spray windows because fields are too wet for machinery. Drone spraying removes this constraint entirely — no soil compaction, no weather-window lost because ground conditions won't support a tractor. The Irish case for agri-drones is actually stronger than the continental European case, not weaker.
Agri-drone services — spraying, monitoring, mapping, seeding — represent a new income stream for rural operators. A licensed agri-drone operator providing services to 20 farms within a 20km radius has a viable rural business model. Ireland is not enabling this job creation while our competitors are. This is a rural enterprise policy failure as much as an agriculture policy failure.
The EU Framework Is Already There — Ireland Just Needs to Use It
One of the most powerful points for DAFM is that the EU has done the heavy lifting. Ireland does not need to create new regulatory frameworks from scratch. What exists at EU level right now:
- EASA PDRAs S-01, S-02, G-01, G-03 — predefined risk assessments specifically covering agricultural drone operations, available for national competent authorities to use now
- EU Regulation 2019/947 — the EASA drone framework, fully transposed in Ireland via the IAA
- Proposed SUR Article 21 — explicit Member State permission to create drone spraying exemptions once criteria are met
- German National Standard Scenario — a tested, working national implementation that Ireland can adapt directly
The honest message to DAFM is: the EU has built the runway. Ireland just needs to land the plane.
How to Contact Your TD
The most effective form of political engagement on agricultural policy issues in Ireland is direct constituent contact with TDs — particularly those who sit on the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Here's how to do it effectively:
Use oireachtas.ie/en/members/tds to find your local TDs and their contact details. If any of your constituency's TDs sit on the Agriculture Committee, prioritise them.
TDs' constituency offices take calls and messages seriously, particularly from farmers and business owners in the constituency. A brief, specific request — "I want to talk about agri-drone regulation" — is enough to get a call back or a meeting.
The most effective constituent engagement is personal and specific. Tell your TD how the current prohibition affects you directly — whether you're a farmer who could benefit, an operator who could build a business, or someone who wants to see Ireland meet its environmental targets without the bureaucratic block.
You can explicitly request that your TD table a parliamentary question to the Minister for Agriculture on this issue. A PQ asking the Minister what steps are being taken to enable agri-drone operations in line with German and EU frameworks is a low-effort, high-impact action for any TD.
Template Letter to Your TD
Feel free to copy and adapt this letter. Personal detail and specific local context makes it more effective than a word-for-word copy.
Dear [TD Name],
I am writing as a [farmer / agricultural contractor / rural business owner] in [your constituency] to raise an urgent agricultural technology policy issue that I believe deserves attention from the Oireachtas Agriculture Committee.
Ireland currently prohibits the use of agricultural drones for plant protection product application — including pesticide, fungicide, and herbicide spraying — through the absence of a national derogation under the transposed Sustainable Use Directive. This prohibition places Irish farmers at a significant competitive disadvantage relative to EU counterparts in Germany, France, and other member states, where agri-drone spraying is now permitted and in active commercial use.
The evidence for agri-drone spraying is compelling and uncontested. Studies across 30+ countries show pesticide volume reductions of 30–70% compared to traditional ground-based application. The EU Commission's own proposed Sustainable Use Regulation explicitly acknowledges that drone application reduces risks "compared to use of land-based application equipment." Germany approved agricultural drones under 50kg in November 2022, with a simple national standard scenario that Ireland could adapt directly.
In Ireland's context, the case is even stronger. Our wet climate means tractor-based spray windows are regularly lost — drone spraying works when fields are too wet for machinery. Our soil compaction problem worsens with every tractor pass — drones cause none. Our EU climate commitments require a 50% pesticide reduction target — precision drone technology is one of the primary tools to achieve it without destroying yields.
I am asking you to take the following specific actions:
- Table a parliamentary question to the Minister for Agriculture asking what steps DAFM is taking to develop an Irish national derogation framework for agri-drone spraying, and on what timeline
- Raise agri-drone regulation at the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, with a view to inviting DAFM and industry stakeholders to give evidence
- Support any Department of Agriculture initiative to fund a Teagasc-led pilot programme for precision drone spraying in Irish conditions
I would be happy to discuss this further. There are farmers and operators across Ireland ready to invest in this technology the moment a clear regulatory pathway exists. We need Irish policy to catch up with Irish ambition.
Yours sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[Your Email]
Key Organisations to Engage
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