Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 10 July 2024

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed)

5:30 pm

Dr. Eimear Cotter:

It certainly will be very challenging and we have said this already. We do not, though, think it is unrealistic to expect to have clean, healthy waters in Ireland. We know there are things that can happen, and we have gone through them here, to improve our water quality, in agriculture and other sectors. It is not, then, an impossible ask and there are improvements that can be made. We used to have 500 pristine water bodies in this country; we are now at 41. This number was lower, but it is getting better. We think-----