Results 1-15 of 15 for epa speaker:Joe Flaherty

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Septic Tanks (13 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: ...and a feeling of being unfulfilled, however, given numerous constituents have come to me and pointed out the shortcomings of the scheme. Just 19 grants have been paid out this year by the Department to householders with septic tanks and the Department is coming under increasing pressure to revise the eligibility and application process, which many people, me included, argue is too...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Mar 2024)

Joe Flaherty: That is very good. Are the five additional staff for the EPA and four for LAWPRO in situ now?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Mar 2024)

Joe Flaherty: I appreciate the catchment referral approach. If we go back to 2022, LAWPRO prepared those catchment referrals in conjunction with the EPA and ASSAP. I believe that was for just over north of 700,000 ha. What has happened those specifically since? Mr. Coleman might elaborate on that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (14 Feb 2024)

Joe Flaherty: ...very much Dublin-centred and it is a big issue for farmers. The reality is that the water quality did not improve, so we are where we are. I take it on board, and I have say this every time the EPA comes into us at the housing committee. I tell it that it is not entirely a farm issue and that there are other factors. The witnesses have given examples to us here that industry, sewage...

Environmental Protection Agency Water Quality Report 2022: Statements (28 Jun 2023)

Joe Flaherty: ...with the overemphasis on rural Ireland and especially farmers in the new third river basin management plan currently being finalised. However, I will use the few minutes I have to highlight the EPA's heretofore steadfast opposition to the harvesting of commercial peat. This has placed a stranglehold on our horticulture sector. Representatives from the sector, including the chair of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Consolidation in Horticultural Grower Numbers: Discussion (28 Jun 2023)

Joe Flaherty: On peat, there was a court case in the midlands earlier in June where the EPA had taken three growers to court. It was a major win for the producers in that the court established that three boglands were not technically and hydrologically connected. The EPA has continued to contend its flawed claim that bogland is hydrologically linked but unfortunately for it, it was unable to produce any...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Consolidation in Horticultural Grower Numbers: Discussion (28 Jun 2023)

Joe Flaherty: I welcome Niall McCormack who is a near neighbour of mine in Longford. I am delighted to see several of his neighbours have come to support him here. There was a debate on the EPA in the Dáil earlier where farmers were again vilified but Mr. McCormack's neighbours are here to support him in the important role he plays both as a custodian of the land and also a keen environmentalist....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticulture Industry: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2022)

Joe Flaherty: ...is a degree of paralysis or fear in local authorities causing them to be afraid to advance or make decisions and they are deferring to other agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA. That has in part led to the impasse. It is good that the report sets out what appears to be an immediate solution. It does not require changes to legislation and the key is that it will...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Environmental Impact of Local Emissions: Discussion (30 Nov 2022)

Joe Flaherty: ...agencies and State bodies failing people, but it is probably rare for five State agencies combined to fail one person, and this is certainly what is happening in Mr. Brennan's case. Teagasc, the Department, the HSE, Kilkenny County Council and the EPA must come before the committee to answer questions. We will get some answers at this committee but Mr. Brennan's case shines a light on...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticulture Industry: Discussion (Resumed) (12 Oct 2022)

Joe Flaherty: .... I am also disappointed that there is no representative from the Green Party at the meeting. Unquestionably, the horticulture sector has been failed by various Government agencies and the three Departments. It is up for debate which of the Departments is ultimately responsible, but we will lay the blame on all three of them for the moment. I think the key point to take away from what...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Joe Flaherty: The EPA mentioned a drinking water quality report which will be published next week. It seems an inordinate length of time to wait for a 2021 report. There are many agencies and bodies are in the country. Farmers who were at the agriculture committee a number of weeks ago were exasperated that it takes so long to produce this report. Many staff and a lot of money are allocated to this....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Joe Flaherty: ...and physical changes such as land drainage are the big issues. The farming community would take big issue with that. There are a lot more factors at play in terms of water quality. Has the EPA not seen a huge change in farming? Has it not seen farmers engage with the process and be inordinately proactive over the past ten years in particular as regards water quality?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Carbon Sequestration and Storage in Agriculture: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Joe Flaherty: I have a quick question for the Department if that is all right. I know a small farmer who is proud of his hedgerows and has seen bigger farmers nearby remove their hedgerows. The witnesses mentioned the EPA earlier. The EPA did a study in 2014. It was done by Dr. Kevin Black in conjunction with a then emerging company, Treemetrics, in Cork. The research showed that the hedgerows and...

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

Joe Flaherty: ...are being tagged with the issue. I appreciate there are issues with pesticides on the western seaboard. It probably comes back to a point the Chairman was trying to get at at the outset. The EPA has assigned 85% of the source of nitrogen to agriculture and yet, in its own report, it states there are significant issues with the Tolka and the Liffey river basins on the eastern seaboard as...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Water Quality and Infrastructure and Small Town and Villages Growth Programme: Discussion (23 Sep 2021)

Joe Flaherty: ...environment in this country than farmers, who are facing into it again in terms of climate action targets and the nitrates directive. Ultimately, responsibility for water quality rests with the EPA, Irish Water and, obviously, the Department. Moving on from that, I wish to hone in on two specific points and I am happy for the witnesses to come back with the responses at the end or...