Dr. Eimear Cotter:

On the policies that will be put in place to deal with these issues, investment is not a role for the EPA. I know the Departments of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Housing, Local Government and Heritage are coming here later. The relevant Government Department is where policies and measures are developed to deal with these issues and to ensure that the investment and resources flow. Where we come into it is to provide the evidence and data to enable decisions to be made and to make sure that they are good quality, evidence-based decisions. As the Deputy says, that is important for all environmental issues and for water quality. All water quality issues are local. It depends on what is happening in a particular area, the land use that is under way, the soil types, the farming practices, if that is relevant, and urban wastewater. We have been through many of the issues today. We provide the evidence and data to support effective policy development but, ultimately, the policy is the responsibility of Government Departments.

We have seen the draft river basin management plan and are awaiting the finalised plan. It is our national water plan for the country and is maybe analogous to our climate action plan. That is where policies and measures will be articulated about who has responsibility, what the timelines are and where the resources flow. We need to see that plan published to tackle the multiple pressures on water quality that we have discussed.