Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)

I thank Deputy O'Gorman for raising this point.

I am aware of the joint committee's report regarding Lady's Island Lake and I am working closely with my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy O’Sullivan, who is leading the Government's engagement in this area. My Department, along with Teagasc experts, are centrally engaged in the interdepartmental Lady’s Island oversight group led by Wexford County Council, which also involves the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, the local authorities waters programme, LAWPRO, and the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS.

Wexford County Council, with the guidance of the interdepartmental group, has developed a site-specific action plan to address the challenges faced by Lady's Island Lake within the framework and mechanisms of the water action plan 2024. The recent announcement of funding by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to support this work aims to support development of the Lady’s Island Lake sustainable farming and communities water quality management plan, which will facilitate a holistic approach to improve water quality in this coastal lagoon.

In the Lady's Island Lake catchment, my Department, along with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, is funding free confidential advisory support for farmers through the agricultural sustainability support and advisory programme, commonly known as ASSAP. Under that programme, ASSAP advisers are working in the lake's catchment to identify appropriate on-farm measures to address the challenges faced by the lake. The farming for water European Innovation Partnership, EIP, led by LAWPRO, is working in partnership with Teagasc and Dairy Industry Ireland in the lake's catchment area. Through this EIP, my Department is providing €50 million nationally in funding for specific targeted on-farm actions which go beyond regulatory requirements.

A significant number of farming for water EIP applications have already been completed in the lake's catchment area.

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