Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That would be helpful. It would also be very helpful if the officials could share with the Oireachtas committee a response as to how they dealt with considerable legal concerns the OPLA had. I know the Minister of State does not have the legal advice because it is confidential to the committee but I am sure we can provide him with either a summary of it or, with the agreement of the committee, a copy of it, given that it is the Government. I think the committee would like to be reassured of that.

I will make two points because we have very little time left. A good water abstraction regime is good for everybody. It is good for the small farmer. It is good for rural communities. It is good for large urban areas. It is good for businesses. Deputy Mattie McGrath made a very important point, which is actually an argument for an abstraction regime. We are now having more adverse weather events. Deputy Mattie McGrath mentioned droughts and reduction of water supply from natural watercourses, but there are also floods. Obviously, that is a direct consequence both of climate change and the historical mismanagement of our natural water system. Therefore, if we want to ensure people have access to that vital natural resource, we need to be able to measure it. We need to know what is happening. This is not about stopping anybody accessing anything. It is about making sure that on the basis of the priorities we set as a society, those who most need access to the natural resource of the water systems, whether they be people, businesses, ecosystems or the natural environment, get access to that.

It is important to remember what the thresholds are. The Minister of State is right that 95% of water abstractions will be registered. All that means is they will be registered; they will not be licensed or monitored. The only abstractions that will be required to be licensed are abstractions above 2,000 cu. m per day. That is equivalent to the daily water usage of 18,000 people. That is not big; that is enormous. That does not refer to cumulative abstractions beside each other; it refers to single abstractions. That means that the vast majority of abstractions, including large abstractions, will not be captured by the licensing and will not be monitored by the Environmental Protection Agency. Therefore, we will not be managing it properly. I absolutely share Deputy Matthews's view, which is if we do not account for the abstraction, we will not be able to manage into the future particularly as the impact of climate change becomes more adverse.

Who will be the big losers? It will be rural communities in the first instance - the people who are more dependent on the land for their livelihood than those of us who live in the big urban centres. It will be the small family farmers in more isolated rural areas and it will roll on from there. The argument that a threshold of 2,000 cu. m is appropriate is not the case. During the committee sessions it became patently clear why that threshold has been set. If it was set any lower, the Government would need to resource the Environmental Protection Agency better. That is really the argument and that would mean that staff and resources would be needed. I urge the Minister of State to convey to his colleagues that given that the threshold will be the threshold, we need to ensure that at a minimum it is properly policed and managed.

We will not get to the other amendments but decisions on licensing, decisions on exemptions and decisions on the continuation of historical abstractions must be made in a way that is absolutely consistent with the water framework directive. I wish to respond in a very collegiate way to Deputies Mattie McGrath and Fitzmaurice. I am an exceptionally strong critic of many aspects of European integration. However, just because something has its origins in European Union, it does not mean that it does not have a value.

Nobody can accuse the Irish Government of rushing the abstraction legislation. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan outlined the 20-year wait to get us here. This is an eminently sensible and urgently required regime if we get it right. I urge the Minister of State in whatever way he can to convey the sentiments of people here which is to have an abstraction regime that works and one that protects urban and rural communities, businesses and, crucially, the natural environment and our biodiversity. Let us not be coming back here in some years' time with amending legislation at the last minute because we are open to yet another European infringement proceeding and millions of euro of taxpayers' money is being wasted when we could have fixed the problem this time around.

See this speech in context