Results 4,541-4,560 of 4,710 for speaker:Jennifer Whitmore

Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025: Second Stage (30 Sep 2025)

Jennifer Whitmore: I welcome the opportunity to discuss the Bill. At this point, we are looking at it on a high level. As we go through the remainder of the process, a lot of the details will be discussed and elements of it will, I hope, be improved. A few points strike me in the first instance. In principle, I absolutely welcome statutory limits and timelines. What will be really important is what they...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Oct 2025)

Jennifer Whitmore: That is not true. We clearly called them out.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy: Fish Kill in the River Blackwater: Discussion (30 Sep 2025)

Jennifer Whitmore: I thank everyone for coming in today. I particularly thank Mr. Conor Arnold and Mr. John Ruby. We met yesterday at the River Blackwater to have a chat and a more in-depth conversation. I thank them for coming up today. It is a long journey. From looking at the front of the report, there are a lot of agencies involved. Who was responsible for managing this process?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy: Fish Kill in the River Blackwater: Discussion (30 Sep 2025)

Jennifer Whitmore: On 11 August, IFI was informed there had been a fish kill. It was on site by approximately midday.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy: Fish Kill in the River Blackwater: Discussion (30 Sep 2025)

Jennifer Whitmore: What samples were taken on that day?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy: Fish Kill in the River Blackwater: Discussion (30 Sep 2025)

Jennifer Whitmore: I am sorry but I am going to be quite short and go back and forth because I am so limited in time. When a fish kill is identified, I would have thought people would be on site – which IFI was - taking water, sediment and fish samples. That did not happen on day one.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy: Fish Kill in the River Blackwater: Discussion (30 Sep 2025)

Jennifer Whitmore: In the report that Cork County Council submitted, it says that IFI shared its initial assessments suggesting a possible fungal outbreak or disease, exacerbated by low water levels and high temperatures, as early investigations yielded no signs of pollution. Did that happen?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy: Fish Kill in the River Blackwater: Discussion (30 Sep 2025)

Jennifer Whitmore: If that was the indication or suspicion, however, did that lead to a belief that it was a natural event and that there was nothing to be seen?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy: Fish Kill in the River Blackwater: Discussion (30 Sep 2025)

Jennifer Whitmore: Mr. Fox does not believe that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy: Fish Kill in the River Blackwater: Discussion (30 Sep 2025)

Jennifer Whitmore: Did IFI look at the fish on that day? I am just trying to work out who was doing what on site. IFI arrived. Its primary remit relates to fish, rather than water quality or anything else. Is that correct?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy: Fish Kill in the River Blackwater: Discussion (30 Sep 2025)

Jennifer Whitmore: Did IFI look at the fish on day one? Did its officers pick fish up to look to see whether there were fungi on their gills? Was any of that carried out?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy: Fish Kill in the River Blackwater: Discussion (30 Sep 2025)

Jennifer Whitmore: This was not in the media; I am reading this from Cork County Council’s report. In that document, it says that IFI shared its assessment suggesting a possible fungal outbreak. It seems absolutely incredible that an agency was on site when there was a fish kill and no water samples were collected, regardless of IFI’s remit. That seems like a huge gap in any protocol. It...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy: Fish Kill in the River Blackwater: Discussion (30 Sep 2025)

Jennifer Whitmore: IFI and Cork County Council were notified on 11 August, while the EPA was notified on 12 August. Why was the EPA not notified until 12 August? It is also mentioned in the report that the first mortalities were spotted on 9 August. When and to whom was that notified?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy: Fish Kill in the River Blackwater: Discussion (30 Sep 2025)

Jennifer Whitmore: That was after the fact. The EPA, then, was notified on 12 August. As standard, would the EPA not be notified on day one? Who was responsible for notifying the EPA?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy: Fish Kill in the River Blackwater: Discussion (30 Sep 2025)

Jennifer Whitmore: Is that not a huge flaw in the system when discharges actually flow away? Often, it is not possible to quickly identify the point of discharge.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy: Fish Kill in the River Blackwater: Discussion (30 Sep 2025)

Jennifer Whitmore: Not the EPA.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy: Fish Kill in the River Blackwater: Discussion (30 Sep 2025)

Jennifer Whitmore: Although I am not sure whether it was on 11 or 12 August, at some stage, IFI said there were high water temperatures and low flow and deduced it to be a fungal disease. It deduced that it was a natural event. Is that correct?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy: Fish Kill in the River Blackwater: Discussion (30 Sep 2025)

Jennifer Whitmore: I have one simple question for the Marine Institute. Regarding the gill erosion seen in the samples, could that have been caused by particulate matter in the water or was caused by chemicals?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy: Fish Kill in the River Blackwater: Discussion (30 Sep 2025)

Jennifer Whitmore: Dr. Downes does not think it could have been erosion from particulate matter, is that correct?