Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 July 2021
674. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the steps he is taking in response to the Environmental Protection Agency Water Quality in 2020: An Indicators Report key finding that surface waters and groundwaters continue to be under pressure from human activities particularly from nitrogen and phosphorus from agriculture. [40173/21]
View answer675. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the steps he is taking in response to the Environmental Protection Agency Water Quality in 2020: An Indicators Report finding that reducing the nitrate levels in Irelands waters must be a priority and that the next nitrates action programme must deliver reductions in nitrogen losses to water. [40174/21]
View answer677. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the steps he is taking in response to the Environmental Protection Agency Water Quality in 2020 An Indicators Report key finding that that surface waters and groundwaters continue to be under pressure from human activities, particularly from urban waste water discharges. [40192/21]
View answer678. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the steps he is taking in response to the Environmental Protection Agency Water Quality in 2020 An Indicators Report finding that 43% of rivers are still in unsatisfactory quality and there was a decline in water quality in 230 rivers nationally. [40193/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 674, 675, 677 and 678 together.
I note the report from the Environmental Protection Agency, which highlights that the main risk to water quality continues to be excess nutrients in our rivers, lakes and coastal areas.
Nutrient concentrations are too high and the trends in some areas are going in the wrong direction. The oversupply of nutrients is coming from agricultural land and from underperforming urban and domestic waste water systems.
However, I welcome the positive signs that some rivers are showing evidence of improvement, particularly in the Priority Areas for Action that were identified for targeted action in the current River Basin Management Plan for Ireland.
Our water resources are facing complex pressures, and increasing demands, from population change; expected further growth in the economy; as well as from a changing climate. As a result, we will need a cross-sector collective effort to protect Ireland’s water quality.
On agricultural nutrients, I am working closely with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine on effective measures to address these issues through the River Basin Management Plan process, the Nitrates Action Programme and the CAP Strategic Plan.
Our farmers, food producers and our agricultural system must work in harmony with our environment if we are to maintain our clean, green image. We must carefully manage how we use nutrients on our agricultural land to both secure productivity gains and reduce the loss of excess nutrients to water.
To do this we must continue to work together at a local catchment-scale using programmes such as the Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO) and the Agriculture Sustainability Support and Advisory Programme (ASSAP) who work directly with communities and with farmers to protect and deliver improvements in water quality.
The Programme for Government commits Ireland to producing a new, stronger River Basin Management Plan in 2022, a draft plan of which will be publish for public consultation in the coming weeks.
Ireland’s Nitrates Action Programme is another key instrument in achieving good water quality. It is designed to prevent pollution of surface waters and groundwater from agricultural sources and to protect and improve water quality. The current regulations run to the end of 2021 and a new Nitrates Action Programme will be published at the beginning of 2022.
A second consultation phase on the review of the Nitrates Action Programme will be published shortly. This review is being led by the Nitrates Expert Group, which includes scientific experts from my own Department; the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine; Teagasc and the Environmental Protection Agency. The Nitrates Expert Group will assess the most up to date scientific evidence, and will advise my Department on the measures that should be included in the next Action Programme. The Expert Group are also engaging in bilateral discussions with interested stakeholder groups as part of the review.
To address waste water issues, Irish Water must continue to deliver its capital investment programme. While progress is being made by Irish Water in reducing the number of waste water plants on the EPA’s priority action list, continued and sustained investment is needed to reduce the impact from insufficiently treated waste water discharges and to meet our Water Framework Directive objectives.
As part of Budget 2021, I secured funding of over €1.4 billion to support water services. This includes €1.3 billion in respect of domestic water services provision by Irish Water. This overall investment will deliver significant improvements in our public water and wastewater services, support improved water supplies right across Ireland, including rural Ireland, and support a range of programmes delivering improved water quality in our rivers, lakes and marine area.
