Dr. Eimear Cotter:

Regarding the criteria and how we have assessed it, all the data are available on our website about the tests that are applied to meet the Commission's criteria for this interim review. All are available for anyone to look at and interrogate. It is all very much based on the application of those tests. It is very hard to move outside them. They are very tightly prescribed by the Commission. For the level of trends and interpretation the Senator is suggesting, all of it can be interrogated online. The Senator is talking about his particular example and situation. We have seen nitrate levels increase since 2012 or 2013 and 40% of our rivers are now at a level that is too high to sustain good ecological health. We do see some stabilisation of phosphorous but it is still at levels that are too high. Some 20% of our rivers and 36% of our lakes have phosphorous levels that are too high. None of this is a surprise. None of this is information that has just emerged in the last six months or a year. We have been highlighting the issue with nitrates, particularly in the south and south east of the country, over the last ten or 12 years.