Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I thank my colleague Deputy McCarthy for raising this very important matter. It is one that is of huge importance to him and his constituents in Cork East. We have heard about it across the country due to its significance and the concern it has caused to people for the reasons he has outlined.

I am glad to tell him a thorough investigation has been carried out over the past month into the fish kill incident on the Blackwater by an interagency group. As he said, it was established under the direction of the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, who I thank for his work on this. This group is being co-ordinated by Inland Fisheries Ireland and includes the Environmental Protection Agency, the Marine Institute, Cork County Council, the local authorities water programme, Uisce Éireann, the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Health Service Executive. That gives an indication of the seriousness we are rightly attaching to this. Agencies have used all available resources to examine and monitor the catchment area. Extensive investigations have been carried out and all potential pollution sources in the area have been examined. The investigation included water and fish sampling, laboratory testing, site inspections, electrofishing surveys and habitat inspections.

Despite this very comprehensive sampling, testing and lab work carried out by the agencies, a definitive cause still has not been identified. Technical teams have concluded that as indicated by the results of the pathology testing carried out by the Marine Institute, the most likely cause of the fish mortality was exposure to some form of environmental insult or waterborne irritant, but no definite compound has yet been identified in any of the test results. Results from the comprehensive sampling, testing and monitoring carried out by the various agencies confirm no water quality issues have been detected, which is important for the local community, and the river remains safe for use, including for angling. Monitoring results from the Mallow treatment plant to date have also shown the water is safe to drink and I want to people with that information and to let them know the river will continue to be monitored closely. All agencies will continue to carry out routine surveys and inspections to identify potential risks both in the Blackwater catchment but also more widely across other watercourses. A comprehensive interagency report on the investigation will now be prepared. This will review the actions taken by all agencies involved and will include full and comprehensive findings from all investigations. I expect it will also make recommendations on further actions that can be taken in relation to prevention, compliance and incident response actions by the agencies as well.

This is a peculiar one in one sense because there has been so much work, so much sampling and no definitive answers, but I hope the assurances people have been able to give about water quality and the like go some way to assist the local community and, more importantly, that the river and the catchment will continue to be very closely monitored as well.

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