Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I want to make a comment. This is my second term. I have been on committees for five and a half years. This is actually the most positive committee experience I have had in that time because I can actually see a potential movement and something coming out of this, which is really welcome.

It is great that Wexford County Council is going to take the lead on this. The work that is done at Lady's Island Lake could be an example for the rest of the country. This will be important work. I agree that we cannot wait for funding. The funding will have to come after, but a lot can be done before the funding is provided. Mr. Hore said that something could be set up six months' time. I would love it if Wexford County Council and the NPWS were to leave this meeting today with a plan to meet and think about who the different stakeholders are and started working and bringing people together. Mr. Kinsella has huge connections with the farming community there. There are many different funding programmes. We could even get those people into a room with the different funders and see what could be done pretty quickly.

This is not something that is within the legislative framework, but what I saw on one of the farms was very concerning. It was very public and obvious. A lot of work could be done with the farmers to make sure that they improve the practices on their sites. Assuming that the mandate is given for this to happen, I would love to bring the group back in again in six or nine months to discover what is happening, the different steps that have been taken in order that we know that the stakeholder group is together and find out where they are with it and how we can help. If, at that stage, there is an issue of funding for dredging or whatever, then we could highlight that need, but a huge amount of work could be done before that point. I would love it if we were to have the group back in and do something positive about this.