Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I will come in. There is a difficulty. A sectoral approach is very good, in a way, to hold Departments and Ministers responsible. There is crossover, however and nature-based solutions are going to be key. How we manage our rivers is going to be important and key. I agree with the Deputy on the issue on the River Shannon. It is a big challenge for us to change that system to accommodate not only eels but also salmon. The ESB has a real responsibility to help in that regard.

It is not just the ESB, however. A programme to remove obstacles in rivers is going to be developed. There is a similar issue at the nearby Annacotty Weir. The obstacles are not always hydro dams. We will be looking to invest in removing obstacles to allow both eels and salmonoid fish to get up and down. The benefit is that it is part of an integrated system. The level of oxygen in a river is a relation of various functions, one of which is the free-flowing nature of the rivers. Nature is complicated. It is not simple. What we have to do in agriculture might vary depending on the nature of the river system. We could change the river and help farming, strangely, if the Deputy knows what I mean, and vice versa. It is all connected. In general, on the issue around hydromorphology and river basin catchment management systems, the land use review has to optimise for rural development, biodiversity, carbon storage, ammonia, nitrogen and water pollution. It is about optimisation; they are all connected. That is why we cannot completely separate the issues. They are connected.