Mr. Colin Byrne:

I will pick up on the point on separating run-off from septic water for treatment. There is a national implementation strategy for nature-based solutions. The Department has provided funding to the local authority waters programme, which is a shared service supporting local authorities. Two experts are being put in place who will assist local authorities.

As Deputy Kenny is probably well aware, county development plans mention nature-based solutions as this is in the planning legislation. However, the practice on the ground is a bit patchy. Some of the bigger local authorities have the resources to do it but others are not quite as well prepared. We recognise the need to bring the knowledge together on this. The first meeting of the group is tomorrow. For the past year and a half we have run online workshops and they have been extremely well attended. Sometimes 400 or 500 local authority staff members have attended. There is real interest in it. Uisce Éireann is also looking at pilot schemes. There is a lot of interest in this area. The policy is there but the practice is not and we are trying to bridge the gap.