Mr. Feargal Ó Coigligh:

It should be noted that EU directives, including the Water Framework Directive, usually have provision for exemptions. Regarding Natura sites for example, the directive allows projects which may impact on a site to go ahead for "imperative reasons of overriding public interest", known as IROPI. In fact, possibly one of the first pre-project IROPI processes was carried out in relation to a water supply in Sligo at Lough Talt. Public health issues arose and the only resolution for same was a new plant which could have impacted negatively on the Natura site. The project went through the IROPI process to facilitate that. EU directives usually facilitate those kinds of outcomes in extremis. That is a temporary solution and it is hoped that a permanent solution will allow the plant to be taken out of action and the site will not be negatively impacted in the long term.

The directives allow these kinds of exemptions under limited circumstances.