Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for attending today. Our main concern today is the issue of water quality for the people of Ireland. We would have seen the significance of this issue with the floods in Cork today. We must be aware of how precious our water quality is. I read in the report that the most recent published information from the Environmental Protection Agency indicates that 6% of water bodies in Ireland are potentially at environmental risk due to abstraction pressures. One of the witnesses probably referred to this earlier and I apologise for arriving late.

I also want to ask about the public consultation element, which has already been raised. I understand there will be some public consultation. One of the witnesses might respond on that element. From my perspective of dealing with my local authority, it is important in the context of these abstractions that we find the right balance. I would welcome answers to those two questions. I will ask more questions later but most of the questions I have appear to have been answered. Deputy Ó Broin asked two of the questions I intended to ask.