Results 3,501-3,520 of 7,978 for speaker:Michael Fitzmaurice
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)
Michael Fitzmaurice: I thank the witnesses for coming in. How many bodies of water are there in Ireland?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)
Michael Fitzmaurice: Agriculture is responsible for the impact on 1,000, from what the witnesses said earlier, and 200 more are affected by sewage. What is the story with the other 3,700?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)
Michael Fitzmaurice: I am trying to work out the figures. There are 4,900, of which about 2,450 are not impacted, and adding the 1,000 and 200 brings the number to 3,650. What is the story with the others?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)
Michael Fitzmaurice: Are two thirds in good condition?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)
Michael Fitzmaurice: Which province has the best water quality?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)
Michael Fitzmaurice: We will say nitrogen or phosphorous.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)
Michael Fitzmaurice: When the witnesses are examining a river or lake and there are many tributaries that they would not visit, can they distinguish between human and cattle waste?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)
Michael Fitzmaurice: If I go to a bridge over a river, I often see EPA vehicles sampling water. If the EPA is sampling for pollution or other things, can it distinguish between human and animal waste in the sewage or pollutants in a river? Can it distinguish between it in phosphorous and other things that the EPA is looking for?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)
Michael Fitzmaurice: I know of many towns which, in fairness, the EPA has been looking to provide with sewage treatment plants. If there are farmers farming along that river and a town where sewage was coming into it, is it possible to distinguish when it takes samples whether animals or people are causing the problem? That is all I am trying to establish.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)
Michael Fitzmaurice: I am not disputing anything. I am not querying the Commission or what it is passing or not. I am an ordinary person asking about a small town which does not have a sewage treatment plant and where everything goes down to the river. If there are also farms along the river, when the EPA does its tests, is it able to distinguish clearly whether the waste is from the town or the farm when it...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)
Michael Fitzmaurice: Dr. Cotter is talking about a scientific test. It is not that the EPA is saying there is a town or farm down the way. Is it a scientific test?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)
Michael Fitzmaurice: Okay. Is the EPA in favour of low-emission slurry spreading?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)
Michael Fitzmaurice: Is something proposed to the EPA and the agency goes with it or does it make a decision that something should be done or not done?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)
Michael Fitzmaurice: Yes.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)
Michael Fitzmaurice: I assume the arm of the EPA the witnesses represent does not handle carbon or sequestration or any of that. Is that right?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)
Michael Fitzmaurice: Okay. Dr. Cotter talked about pesticides. It is my understanding there are some pesticides which, if they go into water, can travel up to 30 km or so. Is that correct?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)
Michael Fitzmaurice: Does the EPA monitor the sludge in cities?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)
Michael Fitzmaurice: Does the EPA monitor the sludge that comes out of the treatment plants in the cities?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)
Michael Fitzmaurice: Ms Gurrie is saying it is the Department that has responsibility for that.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)
Michael Fitzmaurice: Okay. I thank the witnesses. I will let somebody else in.