Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)

I thank the Deputy for his remarks regarding the Government's response to this. I reiterate that the Government takes this significant fish mortality very seriously. As the House is aware, farmers have been asked to escalate their efforts in respect of water quality protection. State agencies must do the same. Moreover, there is a duty on State bodies and actors in the public sector to take a lead in ensuring that the risk of pollution incidents and events is minimised. Incidents of this nature are a significant source of concern because of their devastating ecological impact on local ecosystems. They should not happen. I assure the House that no effort will be spared in the context of seeking to prevent or minimise the advent of further incidents of this nature.

It is deeply regrettable that the extensive work carried out to establish the cause of this incident has not yielded any significant results. The Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, has requested a comprehensive interagency report on the investigation into the incident. That report will be important in the context of understanding how we can streamline our cross-agency response to these incidents and ensure that we are identifying the source of pollutants and irritants in our catchments as quickly as possible. It is essential that our agencies work with all stakeholders to ensure that our prevention compliance and incident response actions are as effective as possible. Now that the investigation is concluding, it is imperative that lessons are learnt in order that we will be in a stronger position in the context of ensuring the prevention of events of this nature in the future. I thank the Deputy for raising the matter.

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