Ms Sinead O'Brien:

I thank the committee for the invitation to give evidence. It is based on independent desk research published in October by SWAN and circulated to members. I am joined by three experts, namely. Dr. Elaine McGoff, freshwater ecologist with An Taisce; and Mr. John Kenny, barrister, and Dr. Kieran Craven, who are co-authors of the report.

I will start with a few comments on the significance of abstraction as a pressure on our environment and then Dr. McGoff will say something about the thresholds in the Bill as they compare with other jurisdictions. Mr. Kenny will comment on legal deficiencies in the Bill and Dr. Craven will be available for addressing technical queries.

SWAN fully acknowledges that abstraction is currently not the most significant pressure on Ireland's waters at national level. Nonetheless, our research has identified significant risks. It can pose a significant risk at local level to vulnerable water bodies, their adjoining habitats, such as groundwater dependent ecosystems and rural domestic wells. It can impact on the hydrology and ecology of water bodies, including base flow reductions in rivers, fluctuating water levels in lakes and reduced levels of groundwater. It is also important to note that even small abstractions can have a significant impact on certain sites and this is exacerbated by the cumulative impact of multiple abstractions from a water body. These impacts are variable across seasons, which will be exacerbated by climate change.

A report this year from the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, predicted we could have an up to 50% increase in extended drought periods by the middle of the century. We really need to future-proof our water management.

Abstraction pressures are likely to increase with increased economic growth, including agricultural intensification. In order to manage abstractions, we need to know where the abstractions are, how much is being abstracted and who is doing the abstracting. Research commissioned by the EPA and led by Trinity argues, "Progress on evaluating the current status of abstraction for Irish rivers ... was severely hampered by the lack of an integrated national database of abstraction" and, critically, we contend we still do not have that integrated national database and the proposed Bill will not address this deficit or the others I have outlined. My colleagues will now provide the detailed rationale and legal analysis to support that contention.