Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman. The legislation is good in that it seeks to implement compliance with European law, namely, the water framework directive, ensure protection of our water supply and potentially create the facility for an application to be made for increased water supply to the Dublin area. However, my concern is that the provisions in the Bill must be meaningful and, in this regard, I have specific questions regarding heads 5, 7 and 9.

Head 5 sets out what we will incorporated in the general binding rules but the point is that those rules will be guidelines. When we talk about a threshold of 10 cu. m versus 25 cu. m, for example, it must be a meaningful provision. We need to include in the guidelines the facility to have an accurate recording of the water being abstracted, the quality of that water and the measurement of it. I listened to what was said earlier about there being a bureaucracy and administration around this issue, but the technology has moved on and there are smart metering devices and software that allow for real-time reporting. If we are serious about protecting and managing our water supplies, we need to make that level of investment. Water is a finite natural resource and we cannot manage it in an outdated administrative environment.

I have similar concerns about how meaningful the provisions under head 7 will be. They deal with the introduction of an offence of abstracting water where it is not done legitimately. If this head is to have any meaning, we must ensure that what is being abstracted is measured, and that goes back to the strengthening of the guidelines under head 5 and making them more requirements than guidelines. If head 7 is going to define an offence, what will be the penalty for that offence, how will it be prosecuted and who will prosecute it?

Finally, head 9 includes a reference to how an abstraction will be deemed significant. How will we define what is a significant abstraction if there is not a requirement, under the general rules set out in head 5, that all abstractions be measured, reported and detailed?