Results 1,381-1,400 of 7,773 for speaker:Michael Fitzmaurice

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Are the other 2,211 done four times a year?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Is that for the 2,200?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I will move on to the criteria that apply. I am involved in a group water scheme. Over a period of 20 years I have seen the level and threshold to comply with EU rules, and the different things that have to be tested for, go up. We have to comply with a higher EU standard now. Is that the same for the EPA?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: The EPA is looking at the same thing. Is it fair to say - Senator Lombard raised this issue - that rivers have improved in areas where there is a high level of derogation? That is going by the figures we have seen.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: It is down south in Cork. What is the name of the area?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Given that there is a high rate of derogation in the area, how did the rivers improve if farmers are such culprits?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Unfortunately, we all know a lot of towns that do not have sewage treatment plants. There could be a river that meanders through farmland and forests. I know the EPA would be looking at the different water bodies. Can it distinguish between what comes out of a septic tank and the different types of nitrogen? Can it distinguish between those to a degree that is foolproof?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: It can.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Right. Certain areas seemed to be high on phosphorous. What would the EPA put that down to?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: How does the EPA know how many cows are in an area?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: From Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. It gets the farmer's details

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Okay. Right. That is interesting. So on phosphorous, Dr. Deakin says the sources are 50:50.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: At a national scale. Is there a huge problem? I would put it very differently. In areas where there are no sewage treatment plants and where raw sewage goes out into rivers, which is common in an awful lot of places in the west of Ireland, no one even comes near to take samples. Would the EPA agree with that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Hold on. If there is no septic tank or sewage treatment plant, how can the EPA or Uisce Éireann-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: No, no. There are towns that do not have a sewage treatment plant. What happens then?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: There is way more. You could get 26 in County Galway.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Yes, but we call it a town if there is a shop and a pub or whatever.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Is sewage generally the big problem? You can see the areas affected. You would nearly pick out the areas where there is no sewage treatment plant.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Could the committee get those assessments?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: All of the data are available to the committee.