Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am trying to understand. Nitrates affect one part of the country and the rest of it is affected by phosphorous. Who set up the model? Modelling has been done. When I sample the water and then ring the Department, I am asked how many cows and cattle and other things are in the area. I will be asked about Irish Water in the area. A model is being used. Who did up that model and how accurate is it? This is not Irish Water's fault because it is not something that was done down the years and it has not been on the go for long. There was a lack of funding to councils through the years and the infrastructure was not put in place for sewers. It is as simple as that. I know several towns in which the sewage is going. It is the farmers here who have the red map over them. It is not the towns but the farmers and the enterprise in which they are involved that has the red map over them. Who is designing these models? Everything is based on a model nowadays. We calculate how many cattle and people are in an area, and consider the situation with respect to Irish Water, and this great yoke will tell us what the problem is and who is responsible. I do not think it works that way, to be frank, if raw sewage is going into a place. The most pristine river in Ireland, Island River, is near where I and Councillor Declan Geraghty live. I know it is the most pristine in Ireland but it has a red mark around it now because of the nitrates. There is something wrong. The river is coming for miles. Why is that?