Results 1-20 of 48 for epa segment:8735626

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens' Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Nov 2023)

Brian Leddin: The meeting will be split into two sessions. The first is with representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA. Also with us is Professor Mark Scott. The second session will be with officials from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The purpose of the sessions is to examine the recommendations...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens' Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Nov 2023)

Dr. Eimear Cotter: I thank the committee for inviting the EPA to discuss the recommendations of the Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss. I am joined by senior management colleagues, Ms Mary Gurrie and Dr. Jenny Deakin, who deal with water quality monitoring and assessment in the EPA. This meeting is focusing on water quality – rivers, lakes, estuaries, coastal and groundwaters...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens' Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Nov 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: I thank the witnesses for coming before the committee on the important issue of assessing the report of the Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss. I thank the EPA for the important work it does with research and monitoring etc. This does not always get acknowledged but it is important we acknowledge it here. I wish to speak about water quality obviously, but also on the derogation...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens' Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Nov 2023)

Dr. Eimear Cotter: I thank Deputy O'Sullivan for the question. The EPA implements the national water quality monitoring programme. As part of this we can see that 54% of our waters are in good condition. This means that 46% of our waters are not. Agriculture is one of the most significant pressures on our water quality, impacting 1,000 water bodies. This is mainly due to nitrates and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens' Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Nov 2023)

Dr. Eimear Cotter: I cannot really say what one particular solution would work. We do not get into the solutions. The EPA looks at the environment and we need to see nitrate levels reduce in our waters. When we see this, we will report it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens' Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Nov 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: It was not a question to the EPA; it was just a comment to the committee.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens' Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Nov 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: I thank the EPA for the presentation. I also want to talk about the derogation. I think the EPA will get a lot of questions about that today. I come at it more from the perspective that the reduction of our water quality has been going on for quite a while. It has not just happened last year with the report the EPA produced. Unfortunately, we did not see in years prior sufficient...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens' Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Nov 2023)

Dr. Eimear Cotter: We cannot see into the future. We are monitoring what is happening in water quality now. At the moment, many EPA scientists are out in the field taking measurements of our rivers, lakes and estuaries and we will have results for 2023 at the end of this year and, as we go on, we will continue to do that. We cannot say. We have not done detailed modelling of the impact,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens' Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Nov 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: The EPA does not model-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens' Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Nov 2023)

Richard Bruton: ...must be made clear, with each body/agency held publicly accountable for their performance." Which State bodies need to be held publicly accountable in each of the spheres? As I understand it, the EPA is less the enforcer, although it does oversee the local authorities. It is more involved in the data and stepping back, as it were. Which bodies should we be looking at primarily to step...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens' Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Nov 2023)

Dr. Eimear Cotter: I will first set out some of the functions of the EPA. We are the environmental regulator. We regulate 800 large industries, pharmaceuticals, waste and wastewater discharges from Uisce Éireann. We license and enforce those large operators around the country. That is a really important regulatory function that is carried out by the EPA, and that includes looking at...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens' Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Nov 2023)

Dr. Eimear Cotter: I am saying that in response to the Deputy's question about the role of the EPA. I am clarifying that, as the environmental regulator, that is what we do. We are also responsible for the oversight of local authorities in terms of overseeing their statutory functions related to the environment. As part of doing that, every year we produce an assessment of which local...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens' Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Nov 2023)

Dr. Eimear Cotter: I am first clarifying the role of the EPA in response to the Deputy’s question. The second part of his question related to who is responsible and who needs to be held accountable. From our point of view, in terms of our oversight of local authorities, every year we have called out where we think local authorities need to up their performance in the implementation...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens' Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Nov 2023)

Richard Bruton: How does the EPA compare with its counterparts in other jurisdictions? In other jurisdictions that are more effective, are there greater powers in respect of local authorities, farm inspectors or whoever it is the EPA here feels ought to be pulling up their socks? Are there more powers in other jurisdictions than the agency has here? It seems as though the EPA is saying more should be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens' Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Nov 2023)

...the EU, we all have different functions and responsibilities. We are not all constituted in the same way. We meet as part of a network at EU level, so we are therefore very aware of what other EPA equivalents do in other countries. I cannot therefore draw a direct comparison for the Deputy in terms of whether some have powers greater or lesser than the EPA here. I cannot really add...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens' Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Nov 2023)

...river catchment, of which Timoleague is part. It is 88 sq. km, which is approximately ten times larger than the area being monitored by Teagasc in Timoleague. Monitoring by both Teagasc and the EPA shows that nitrate levels are too high. In fact, Teagasc's monitoring shows higher nitrate levels than what we see in the full catchment area. We are not just measuring nitrates. We are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens' Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Nov 2023)

Richard Bruton: When the assembly says enforcement is very poor, is it pointing the finger at the EPA?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens' Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Nov 2023)

...this in a very connected way. Land use policy tends to be quite fragmented in many jurisdictions across urban and rural areas or between agricultural or more urban focused policies. When the EPA was dealing with phase 1, it identified 120 or more policy documents in Ireland that had a land use dimension, but we have never really co-ordinated those different policy dimensions. What we...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens' Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Nov 2023)

Dr. Eimear Cotter: On the local authority performance, section 63 of the Environmental Protection Authority Act gives the EPA responsibility for overseeing the environmental performance of local authorities. As part of that, we produce an annual assessment. We have recently redesigned the framework to enable us to do that, focusing more on the environmental outcomes. Rather than local...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens' Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Nov 2023)

Ms Mary Gurrie: I will speak to prosecutions. Dr. Cotter covered the fact that the EPA is a regulatory authority over certain industries, including wastewater treatment plants. We have the power to take cases at District Court level. I do not have the exact number at hand because it varies, but it is between 15 and 20 cases per year. That would include industrial waste, maybe unlicensed...