Dr. Eimear Cotter:

Can I set out the EPA's water quality monitoring programme and the requirements that we have to meet under the water framework directive? We have been the competent authority under the water framework directive for 20 years and we are regularly reviewed by the Commission to ensure that our monitoring network is representative, we are measuring in the right places and we give a representative picture of what is happening in the country. That has been found to meet the requirements of the water framework directive. The density of our monitoring network is the second highest in the EU. We are confident that what we see is representative of what is happening in the country as a whole and that we are able to see where things are deteriorating or improving.