Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

We know leakage is part and parcel of every water system throughout the world, with significant losses occurring through it. I do not know if 25% or 30% is best practice on leakage. Is there a requirement in this Bill for licensed, notified or temporary extractors to manage leakage to a certain level? Many have raised the issue of it being a finite resource and that overabstraction can have negative impacts on other users of the same water body, groundwater or surface water.

Is it the abstractor or the EPA that deems an extraction to be temporary and notifiable? For example, if I want to temporarily extract 24 cu. m or 25 cu. m of water, as it is temporary, can I deem that I do not have to notify it? There are many developments and temporary structures, for example, in this building that started off as temporary but ended up as being permanent. Where does the notification for that take place?

There is the case of significant abstractions which could have an environmental impact on a Natura, habitats directive or birds directive site.

It would be quite difficult if we have a number of temporary abstractions and a number of unnotified abstractions, the cumulative impact of which may be what is having the impact on the Natura site and not the licensed site. That will be quite difficult and will require careful consideration. If it is significant and likely to have an impact on a Natura site, this is an appropriate assessment - a full environmental impact assessment. Will that be capable of looking at all the unnotified abstractions on that water body as well? It seems quite an onerous environmental impact assessment to take because of the geographical spread of a water body.