Mr. Mark Boyden:

I thank the committee for the invitation to appear before it. The Sustainable Water Network assists in fulfilling vital public participation functions referred to by Dr. Crowe, which is required by the water framework directive and other water-related policy, by both disseminating the evolving status of the implementation of these instruments in Ireland, as well as collating feedback from numerous stakeholders. We have a solemn duty to faithfully convey these opinions and concerns from contributors, to ensure their voices are heard and are present at the table.

The value of clean, healthy waters is clear, and even more so as we enter a time of uncertain rainfall and other influences induced by climate change. Absolutely everything depends upon our achieving high status waters - from the health of our people, to our stewardship of biodiversity, and extending to the value of our agricultural produce. That is by way of introduction. I will now defer to my colleague, SWAN co-ordinator, Ms Sinéad O'Brien, to brief the committee on the deeply considered SWAN assessment of the current draft river basin management plan. The committee will have received the full submission in separate correspondence.