Results 7,881-7,900 of 10,843 for speaker:Matt Carthy

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
Chapter 9 - Remediation of Landfill Sites (14 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: It is my belief that there has never been an analysis of an underground option for this project. Mr. Griffin and I will agree to disagree.

Financial Resolutions 2021 - Financial Resolution No. 2: General (Resumed) (13 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: This budget is the product of a Government that is out of touch, out of ideas and, increasingly, running out of road. It is bizarre that any government in the current climate would introduce a budget that delivers precisely nothing for renters. The Government did not even pretend to provide renters a break. It is also mind-boggling that, in a week when 483 people at one stage were lying on...

Financial Resolutions 2021 - Financial Resolution No. 2: General (Resumed) (13 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: You are deluded.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (13 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: 9. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to develop and support further and higher education in County Monaghan. [49541/21]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Costs (13 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: 56. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the determining factor that results in students of only some third-level educational institutes having access to the student hardship fund. [49540/21]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: I thank the witnesses for being here. It is an incredibly interesting and important topic. Everybody will agree that we must protect our watercourses. Am I correct in saying nitrates, phosphorus and pesticides are the three areas the EPA is concerned about with respect to water quality?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: Okay. Will Dr. Cotter describe what the impact of each of those is on water quality? What are the dangers with respect to human consumption or for particular types of animals or insects? In other words, is there a degree to which each of these, at various levels, becomes a public danger as opposed to the obvious concerns we have in general?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: How do they enter watercourses? Is it through run-off or other means?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: Okay. The witnesses referred to 1,000 watercourses that are impacted on by agriculture. There will obviously be specific issues with each of them and not all of them are drinking water supplies. If they were drinking water supplies, would all 1,000 of them breach the standards the EPA has outlined for drinking water?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: I accept that. Of the 1,000, how many would breach the drinking water standards? Does the agency have a figure for that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: Okay. With how many of the 1,000 watercourses might a local in the area note an impact on fish, for example, reduced fish stock caused by these issues as opposed to overfishing?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: I suppose one of the advantages we have over other European countries is that we are an island, and it is all essentially in our own hands. The disadvantage is that we are a divided island. In terms of the work that is done in this area, what is the mechanism for co-ordination on a North-South basis?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: At one stage the river basin districts were established. Are they still operational and how effective are they? If I recall correctly, a number of them were cross-Border.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: If I recall correctly, the river basin districts were established on a cross-Border basis.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: Did Dr. Deakin say that was reversed somewhat?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: I do not want to hog the meeting, but it would be useful if we could get a note on how exactly the co-ordination operates because it is crucially important. In the opening statement, Dr. Cotter stated: "[T]he message is that protecting water quality is an issue for all farmers, not just those that have the largest or more intensive farms." I take it she accepts there is a distinction...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: The message is that all farmers have a responsibility and the question is what that responsibility is. There are very different operational realities for different types of farms. How do we distinguish in terms of setting out what those obligations are?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: That is interesting in terms of what Dr. Cotter said about the existing regulations. I get the sense that her view is that they have not been implemented and enforced. Then we have the potential new regulation. Where does the balance lie? What would have the biggest impact - the implementation and enforcement of the existing regulations or the introduction of new rules?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: I am trying to pinpoint what we need to say. Part of the kick-back that we have seen already is that farmers say they do not know exactly what is being asked of them. In her opening statement, Dr. Cotter states: A one-size-fits-all approach will not be adequate to achieve the outcomes [...] They need to be targeted and specific to the soils, activities and risks on the farm. That...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Directive, Water Quality and Pollution: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Matt Carthy: This is my final question. The EPA touches generally in the national adaptation plan, NAP, process, on air quality. I understand the obligations from an EU perspective are very specific to water quality. What role does air quality play in terms of the deliberation on objectives specifically regarding the NAPs?