Ms Sinéad O'Brien:

It is a fundamental issue. We are of the view that the plan is not compliant with the directive. According to the directive, all of our water bodies had to reach good status by 2015 – does everyone remember 2015? – and then by 2021 and that there should be no further deterioration. It provided for three cycles, with the final deadline in 2027. The directive requires that we identify the pressures and impacts on all water bodies and implement measures to address those and bring the water bodies up to good status. The directive provides for two types of measures. The first are basic measures, which are the ones with which committee members, as legislators, will be familiar: all of our basic legislation; the urban waste water treatment directive; and the European Union (Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of Waters) Regulations, or GAP regulations. If these measures do not work, we have to introduce targeted additional measures. That is the requirement, but what we see in the plan are broad brushstroke generic measures that, in many cases such as agriculture and forestry, repackage what is already in place, for example, a review, an enhancement of uptake of forestry grant schemes, etc., with no assessment of how many water bodies they will bring up to good status. This is why we say it is not compliant. It does not set out targeted measures, as we and the Water Forum are recommending for each water body.

A second way in which it is not compliant is more legally specific. There is now European case law under the Weser judgment, according to which a development should not go ahead under the water framework directive unless the relevant authority can demonstrate that the development will not compromise the affected water body in meeting its targets. To us, this suggests strongly that assessments of such developments need to take place, but that is not happening in the case of forestry or agriculture. It is not happening with physical developments either, although the plan sets out a proposal for new legislation to bring those into compliance.

I will allow my colleagues to answer the Deputy's other questions.