Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming in. Looking at the EPA's report and the famous, or infamous, map on page 27 that points out areas identified as "Areas draining to [those] waterbodies that have met [or exceeded] the criteria specified by the Commission under Article 12, and will therefore require additional measures", and also looking at the 2022 derogation herd locations, information which is also very helpfully contained in the report, there is a discrepancy in some areas. This is particularly the case in counties Clare, Kerry and Leitrim. The areas identified as requiring additional measures in County Clare are basically the north and east, perhaps unsurprisingly, whereas there is no particular concentration of derogation herd locations there. In fact, if there is a concentration, that is elsewhere. Likewise in County Kerry, the big concentration in derogation herd locations is, again unsurprisingly, up in the very northern part of the county, whereas the area requiring additional measures is south Kerry. Equally, from the map, County Leitrim looks to me to have perhaps one derogation herd, whereas almost all the county seems to be included in the areas requiring additional measures.

One thing north and east County Clare and County Leitrim have in common is that there is a huge amount of forestry, especially monoculture Sitka spruce forestry. Much of this is in the ownership of the State through Coillte. My worry is that while agriculture has undoubtedly played a part in the degradation of our water quality and equally undoubtedly must act to counter this impact, and it would be disingenuous to claim otherwise, many other actors also have an important role to play. If they do not play a role, then we are going to be back here in three years' time with the Commission telling us there has not really been much of an improvement in our water quality. Agriculture will be referred to. There is a zeitgeistout there that drug dealers may get a better play in the media now than farmers in terms of how they are being portrayed. This is not to say that farmers do not have an important role to play and do not have to take action. They absolutely do, but the issue is broader than that.

On the other side of the house, therefore, what is going to happen in the Minister's Department with regard to forestry practices? In particular, I refer to forestry the State effectively owns. The State owns Coillte and it owns vast tracts of lands. I refer to its practice of continuing with these Sitka spruce plantations, and specifically the clear-felling of them and the environmental havoc that causes. Are there any plans to do anything in this regard? Is the only response to the degradation of water quality the reduction in the derogation? The Minister did not reduce the derogation. We have lost it. I am not into this blame game thing, but we all have to act.