Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Ms O'Brien. My final question kind of goes back to bringing the public along with us. We have to bring everyone along in everything we do, whether it is agriculture, industry or individual users or residents. I read the latest EPA publication, that is, its indicators report from 2020. I find some of the graphs and charts confusing as well. I try to work out if where we see a drop in quality level down to another means that area got better and was moved. It is kind of difficult sometimes to work it out.

Every river a person crosses in this country has a bridge at some point on which the name of the river is written. I would like to see an indicator sign to say this is a green, orange or red river to really clarify in people's minds that our water quality in our rivers is at risk. Those kinds of clear indicators are important.

We might look at regional maps. I know there are good online facilities where one can zoom right in and see that certain segments of a river are of poor quality and are probably better further upstream or kind of lose that toxicity or negative aspect as they go further downstream. That goes for maps for children's classrooms as well. We all know the local rivers in our regions. We all had to learn them off by heart in school years ago. If classrooms had a map on the wall every year to say their closest river was in poor quality and that was caused by the wastewater treatment plant downstream, it could show the impacts on people's health or that the biodiversity in their area is impacted. We need to be really clear like that.

The EPA does fantastic work. It pulls together and provides all those data sets but I do not think the general public reads that document in depth the way we are. That is something we need to address and is probably the way in which Dr. Crowe talked about bringing younger people into it as well. It is a suggestion.

We are almost out of time now. I can offer the witnesses some time if they wish to make a final point. I have been writing down the points and suggestions they have made, which the committee will have a look at. We will put together a submission based on the witnesses' engagement today. If anybody wishes to make a final point, the floor is theirs. I see that Mr. Boyden, Dr. McGoff, Dr. Crowe and Dr. O'Mara have their hands up. We will go in that order.