Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party)
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I welcome our guests. I read through their opening statement, in which they say that the ICMSA is confident that water quality trends will move in the right direction in the near future. As committee members, we have the benefit of seeing in advance the statements from departmental officials who will be before the committee later and they say quite the opposite. They say that we are going in the wrong direction currently. Previously they have said to this committee that we are not going to meet our obligations under the EU water framework directive, which has been in place for more than 30 years. What would the witnesses say to that? I am getting a sense that they see a slow glide path here but a glide path that would take the dairy sector way beyond the directive target of 2027, which is the end date for all our watercourses and water bodies to achieve a "good" water quality standard. It does not seem that what they are saying aligns with where we need to get to.