Mr. Barry Fox:

I thank the Cathaoirleach, Deputies and Senators for inviting us this evening to discuss the nitrates directive and associated matters in a national context. I am accompanied by Dr. Fiona Kelly this evening who is a senior research officer in Inland Fisheries Ireland and Mr. Brian Beckett who is the director of sustainability and climate action in Inland Fisheries Ireland.

Inland Fisheries Ireland is the statutory authority tasked under section 7(1) of the Inland Fisheries Act 2010, with responsibility for the protection, management and conservation of the inland fisheries resource and is one of Ireland’s core environmental agencies. Ireland has approximately 74,000 km of rivers and streams, 12,200 lakes and an extensive coastline of almost 3,200 km, all of which fall under IFI’s jurisdiction. IFI’s role relates to all fish species in fresh water and their habitats, to all aspects of the aquatic environment, such as water quality, biodiversity and hydromorphology and all factors that influence biotic communities within water bodies. The protection and conservation of valuable water resources and protection and enhancement of biological diversity are core components of IFI’s legislative remit. IFI has a long history of assessing the health of rivers, lakes, and transitional waters through the monitoring of fish populations. These national monitoring programmes report on the status of fish populations and inform riverine restoration and protection measures. The fisheries service has worked since the 1950s with all stakeholders including Ireland’s farming communities to safeguard the sustainability of fish populations for the benefit of all.

Healthy freshwater and marine ecosystems are essential for people and nature. Fish populations are a key component of these ecosystems and a primary barometer of environmental health. Freshwater and marine ecosystems and many species are under severe environmental pressure, and some are threatened with extinction due to a combination of factors including water quality decline. Ireland’s particularly vulnerable and threatened fish species include the Atlantic salmon, sea and brown trout, arctic char which is a glacial relict species, pollan, smelt, shad species, sea and river lamprey and the critically endangered European eel, which all rely on clean and abundant water for survival.

Inputs of excessive nutrients - nitrogen and phosphorus - to water bodies lead to an increase in plant and algal growth that degrades water quality. Fish need good quality water and oxygen to survive. An increase in plant growth causes a reduction in dissolved oxygen in the water when the algae die and decompose and can cause fish to die. Eutrophication can also kill off plants which are a food source for many fish species. When algae and plants increase in a water body this can lead to a reduction in water clarity and recreational suitability for stakeholders, such as anglers, and can also reduce the ability of some fish to see prey or predators. Some algal blooms pose an additional threat because they produce toxins, which can be a public health risk and could destroy economically important fisheries.

In a report on fish kill trends in Ireland, which will be published in quarter 2, IFI has identified that agriculture and eutrophication have been the largest contributor to fish kills in Ireland since 1969. The proportion of fish kills attributed to agriculture and eutrophication, was lower in the 2006-2022 period than in the 1969-2006 period.

The EU water framework directive states that all surface waters should reach at least good ecological status by 2027. Good ecological status means a healthy aquatic environment aligning with IFI’s legislative remit to protect and conserve our fish populations. EPA data indicate that in Ireland, 46% of surface waters are in unsatisfactory condition. Of those water bodies considered at risk of not meeting good ecological status, 63% are under pressure from agricultural sources. Elevated nitrogen concentrations are one of the factors that leads to poor water quality outcomes in all waters. The EPA has developed a source load apportionment model which estimates the proportion of the nitrogen inputs to waters in each catchment that comes from each sector. The proportion of the nitrogen coming from agriculture, pasture and arable, is over 90% in the most acutely affected catchments, namely the Barrow, Nore, Suir and Blackwater catchments. IFI is responsible for the national water framework directive fish monitoring programme. Evidence of nutrient enrichment was noted across the Barrow and Nore catchments and other catchments during catchment-wide river surveys carried out by IFI in 2020 and 2021, along with 26 deteriorations in fish ecological status.

The EPA considers that good ecological status under the water framework directive is unlikely to be supported in rivers when nitrate concentrations are higher than 1.8 mg/l as nitrate. An EPA report from 2023 found that in 2022, 44% of Ireland’s rivers had concentrations higher than 8 mg/l of nitrate. It is clear that reductions in nitrogen loads in waters in these catchments are needed to deliver good water quality outcomes and support healthy fish populations and aquatic ecosystems overall.

I have run out of time, but I have answers to four of the questions if the Cathaoirleach would like me to go through them.