Mr. Sean Laffey:

Algal blooms are natural and they have been a recurring phenomenon on the Vartry system for the past number of decades. We know exactly when they arrive. They come in March-April time. They are generally gone by May. We are keeping an eye on it.

The issue in Lough Neagh really is around the fact there are multiple wastewater treatment plants discharging into what is essentially a closed lake and you have also a lot of run-off from agricultural activity which is raising the amount of nutrients in the water which is driving the algal bloom. We get the odd algal bloom up in Blessington lakes but we are monitoring it very, very closely. We are not in a similar situation as we are in Lough Neagh but that is not to say we should not keep an eye on these types of things.