Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

The Lough Neagh-Bann river basin extends into Louth, north Meath and Monaghan. Lough Neagh is a toxic mess now. Any living thing that goes near it will either die or get sick. It is one of the biggest environmental disasters to have ever happened in Ireland, North or South. The farm nutrient management scheme was introduced in the North of Ireland where £200 million was spent to fund animal waste storage. Aontú has seen internal documents from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in the North, specifically an email sent by the former Minister, Edwin Poots, in March 2020, wherein he confirmed that a mere 700 on-site interim inspections were conducted on the tanks in question out of nearly 4,000 tanks installed. A court case was taken in connection with this matter and the judgment stated that there was still a lack of surety concerning whether the limited number of inspections that did take place were even compliant with regulations. The Ministers for agriculture in charge of the project included Arlene Foster, Gordon Lyons, Michelle Gildernew and the current First Minister, Michelle O'Neill. What steps will the Taoiseach take to ensure that this issue, which affects our shared environment North and South, will be properly investigated?

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