Eoghan Kenny (Cork North-Central, Labour)
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The Minister of State will be well aware that on 11 August this year members of the Mallow angling group reported dead fish in the River Blackwater which, in turn, led to an investigation by Inland Fisheries Ireland, IFI, the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, Cork County Council and the Marine Institute. Fish mortality in the River Blackwater is on a scale that we have never before seen in this country. It is heartbreaking for the wildlife and natural habitat of the area. I would like to note that the committee on the environment has scheduled a meeting for the agencies concerned to come before it on 30 September and I want to thank the Chair for his engagement on that.

However, significant concerns still remain unanswered. The bottom line is that we still do not know what killed upwards of 40,000 fish in the Blackwater, which includes 40 km of water. That is quite extraordinary. I do not present myself as any expert in the area and I am not a scientist in any way, shape or form, but there has to be some evidence of the particular chemical agent, which was referred to by IFI, that killed these fish and polluted our water. The distress this has caused among many communities along the river is quite extraordinary and the outpouring of grief in the community is huge.

People, including me, have come to realise the importance of the river, and have realised the extent of pollution within our rivers across the country. This ecological disaster has taken quite an emotional toll on anglers, regular users of the river and members of our communities. I know many people who have fished on the Blackwater for upwards of 50 years and it has been a deeply distressing and depressing situation to be in for the past month. Added to this is the lack of communication and answers. A level of anger remains in Mallow and its environs, and I am right there with the people on that.

On the State agencies, I appreciate the fact that this was an extraordinary event that took place on the Blackwater. I was, and still am, dumbfounded by the lack of detail and communication from all State agencies involved in this ecological disaster. I attended a meeting in Mallow GAA sports complex, along with the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley - it is much appreciated that he came and met the people of Mallow - and State agencies in late August.

The presentation given on the day by the IFI was nothing short of a disgrace. I, along with many members of the community, left the meeting with more concerns and questions than answers. The presentation consisted of four slides, two of which contained one word. If it was not such an important issue, it would have been extremely comical that a State agency in front of us was giving a presentation that, with all due respect, could have been given by a primary school child. That is not disrespectful. I fully believe the level of detail and communication afforded to the members of the community that morning was disgraceful.

Along with that, people did not know about the meeting. As the local TD, I have lived in Mallow for 25 years and did not know the IFI was coming to present to the community, and neither did members of the community. Only for the fact that a member of the public saw the information on the IFI website that morning, people would not have been made aware of the meeting. If I was reading between the lines, I presume that was the intention, namely not to have a significant number of people attend.

As the local TD, I should be allowed to act as a go-between between the State agencies and the constituents I represent. However, getting people to answer the phone or give concrete answers to my questions was extremely hard, which led to huge public anger. The fundamental issue is that our rivers across the country are not being protected. They are being constantly polluted by individuals, companies or State agencies. They are seen as some sort of a dumping ground for waste and, as horrific as it is to say, we have come to accept that. However, we will not accept it in Mallow. In plain English, we want to know how, when and who polluted the River Blackwater, killing upwards of 40,000 fish and destroying an entire ecosystem.

Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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I am taking this Topical Issue on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, who could not be here. I thank Deputy Kenny for raising this important issue and allowing me to update the House on matters relating to it. I want to begin by acknowledging the importance of the very serious kill that occurred on the River Blackwater and its tributaries near Mallow, County Cork, last month and I wish to emphasise that the Government fully recognise the enormous impact this incident has had on local communities, anglers and users of this important river catchment.

Since becoming aware of the incident, the Minister of State with responsibility for fisheries and marine, Deputy Dooley, has been in close contact with IFI and other relevant agencies and he has visited the site on two occasions to consult with the local community and anglers. The Minister of State chaired a well-attended town hall meeting in Mallow between agencies and stakeholders, principally anglers and their representatives. Officials in the Department have also been working closely with IFI and other agencies to co-ordinate public updates and to ensure information is being released as it becomes available.

To ensure that a co-ordinated and thorough response is in place, the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, established an inter-agency group last month, co-ordinated by the IFI, which includes the EPA, Marine Institute, Cork County Council, the local authorities water programme, Uisce Éireann, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, and the HSE. The function of this group was to pool necessary resources and expertise across multiple bodies to provide for a comprehensive and evidence-based approach to addressing and investigating this fish kill. The group has already met on several occasions in the last month, including twice under the chairmanship of the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, and met most recently on 22 September to agree and sign off on a draft report concerning the investigation.

Over the last month, extensive investigations and testing have been carried out by the relevant agencies and all potential pollution sources in the area have been examined. While pathology testing carried out by the Marine Institute indicated possible exposure to some form of environmental insult or water-borne irritant was likely to have caused or contributed to the incident, no definitive cause for the fish kill has been identified in any of the test results. Unfortunately, this is not unusual. In some cases, the triggering factor has either dissipated or is not detectable by the time an investigation commences, making identification impossible.

A significant mortality of fish has occurred, primarily of the trout species. While it will take time for stocks to fully recover, the river remains open for fishing and healthy stocks are present. Importantly, the results of ongoing monitoring and testing indicate that the river continues to be safe, including for angling, with no water quality issues currently detected. All agencies will continue to carry out ongoing monitoring and routine surveys and inspections in the Blackwater catchment and more widely across other water courses.

A full incident report is being completed by the inter-agency group involving a review of actions taken by all agencies, including full and comprehensive findings from all investigations and recommendations for future action relating to the River Blackwater catchment and other river ecosystems.

On behalf of the Government and the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, I thank local anglers and community members who provided vital information to IFI staff during the course of this investigation.

Eoghan Kenny (Cork North-Central, Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I appreciate it. I fully recognise the Government's response to this. To the fair to them, the Ministers of State, Deputies Dooley and O'Sullivan, have taken calls from me and have recognised the fact that a significant ecological disaster that has affected many species and wildlife has taken place on the River Blackwater. My issue lies solely with the State agencies involved, particularly IFI. Trying to get those agencies on the phone is next to impossible. Trying to get a response from them as to the reassurances I possibly bring back to local anglers, other regular users of the river and members of the community is nearly impossible.

No definite cause for the fish kill has been identified in any of the test results. The IFI website refers those results indicating that some sort of chemical agent was the cause of the issue. I call on the IFI to give some sort of reassurance and a definite answer in plain English to ordinary members of the public. It is very difficult to understand the results that are being presented to people. That has to be recognised.

The fact that it is going to take upwards of ten or 12 years for the river to be fully restocked in terms of trout and perhaps even longer for salmon is quite difficult to understand. Some reassurance has to be given to local anglers. In particular, I want to mention Mr. Conor Arnold from the Killavullen Angling Club who owns an angling company that operates on the river. What happened has had a detrimental impact on his business. I want to be in a position to reassure the public. To be fair, the Government's response has been quite good, but I have serious difficulty with the State agencies and their lack of accountability.

Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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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.