Pa Daly
Ceist:212. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his views on the latest EPA water quality report. [27941/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThursday, 23 June 2022
Ceisteanna (212, 213)
Pa Daly
Ceist:213. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his views on the water quality initiatives undertaken by his Department and agencies under his Department's remit.; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27942/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
I propose to take Questions Nos. 212 and 213 together.
The EU Water Framework Directive (Directive 2000/60/EC of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy) establishes a common framework for the protection of inland surface waters, transitional waters, coastal waters and groundwater. The overall aim of the Directive is to maintain high and good status waters where they exist and to restore waters that do not currently reach these standards. River basin management planning, structured in six-year cycles, is the tool prescribed by the Directive for achieving these aims.
Building on the successful elements of the first River Basin Management Plans cycle, the Government introduced new structures for implementation of the Directive as part of the second-cycle river basin management plan that covers the period 2018-2021. These new structures include the Water Policy Advisory Committee (WPAC), which provides high-level policy direction and oversight of implementation. The National Coordination and Management Committee, formed under WPAC, ensures that the measures necessary to achieve our objectives are implemented in an efficient, effective and co-ordinated way. The National Technical Implementation Group, co-ordinates ongoing tracking of implementation and provides a forum for knowledge sharing. Finally, the regional local authority structures, comprising of 5 regional committees, drive delivery of supporting measures at local level.
These structures are further supported by the Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO). Funded by my Department, LAWPRO is responsible for;
- Coordinating efforts by local authorities, public bodies and other stakeholders to achieve the water quality objectives of the EU Water Framework Directive
- Supporting local communities to get involved in caring for their local waters and participate in decision making and river basin management plans, and
- Applying catchment science to identify the issues impacting on water quality in a number of Priority Areas for Action and to refer them to the relevant bodies for action.
As part of the implementation of the Directive in Ireland, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is charged with, inter alia, the monitoring of water status in order to establish a comprehensive overview of water status within each river basin district. A full assessment of the overall quality and ecological status of Ireland’s waters takes place every three years, with the most recent full report published in 2019. In the intervening years, the EPA publishes a report on the indicators of water quality.
The latest indicators report for 2020 highlights that the main risk to water quality continues to be excess nutrients in our rivers, lakes and coastal areas, with the trends in some areas 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 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.
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. Following the fourth review of Ireland’s Nitrates Action Programme, the 5th Nitrates Action Programme was finalised and the Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of Waters Regulations (SI 113 of 2022) were signed in March. The new Action Programme came into effect on the 11th March and will run until the end of 2025, with an interim review taking place in 2023.
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.
In this regard, the National Development Plan 2021-2030 commits to almost €6 billion in capital investment by Irish Water in the period from 2021-2025, of which over €4.5 billion will be Voted Exchequer funded in respect of domestic water services. As part of Budget 2022, I secured funding of over €1.57 billion to support water services. This includes €1.459 billion in respect of domestic water services provision by Irish Water.
This overall investment will deliver significant improvements in our public water and waste water 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 areas.
Finally, my Department is also currently preparing the third River Basin Management Plan for Ireland, to cover the period 2022 – 2027. A key commitment in the Programme for Government, a revised and strengthened River Basin Management Plan will be published later this year.
Building on the work of the second-cycle, this plan will again describe the main pressures and activities affecting water status and set out the environmental objectives to be achieved up to 2027 and identify the measures needed to achieve these objectives, including those highlighted by the EPA.
Question No. 213 answered with Question No. 212.