Results 1-16 of 16 for epa segment:8827962

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

...in its recommendations that the local authorities are adequately resourced to undertake at least 4,500 targeted water quality risk-based farm inspections per annum as part of the national agricultural inspection programme led by the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA. However, there is a need for the application of the regulations to be harmonised across the local authorities and the...

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...

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

...substantially since 2015 and the outflows have not increased. I have asked several times why these results, which have been available for 12 years at this stage, are not taken into account by the EPA. The answer seems to be that the tests are not done by a statutory body. The results are not used because the EPA is the statutory body. We wonder if a closer look was taken at what Eddie...

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

Tim Lombard: Regarding the catchments Mr. Drennan mentioned in his opening statement, we have Teagasc, the EPA and the Department all making acknowledgements or submissions to the Commission about the nitrates derogation. Two Departments are involved. The Department of local government and the Department of agriculture are working together on this issue. As an organisation, do we need a streamlined...

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

Tim Lombard: ...that has been put in place? One is being carried out by Teagasc in 14 catchments for which we have results that are almost available up to date. We have the testing regime carried out by the EPA, which involves monthly testing in most bodies of water and that information is only made available in a report published the following year. If, like me, you are a dairy farmer, you have a...

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

Tim Lombard: Is that not the issue? We are trying to empower farmers with the available information, yet reports are published 18 months after the first test. That is what happens. We wait for the EPA to come on "Morning Ireland" to inform us of what is happening with water quality nationally. It is important we are told what is happening. I do not have an issue with that, but farmers need to know...

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

...answer to the Deputy's question, we are definitely - at the very least - frustrated. We want to see a greater level of engagement with farmers around how this review is conducted. Teagasc and the EPA have to be included as well. I am 100% clear on this. It is a red-line issue for us that if the industry comes together, the processing industry comes on board, and with the support of our...

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

...from the officials was: "Look, we had to agree, we were lucky to get it". They were four months late getting it and my understanding is that they were so late because they were waiting for EPA reports that were delayed over six months. The whole thing was you were being backed into a corner and then they agreed to stuff that in reality we could not achieve. Therefore, there is a huge...

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

...at one here. I 100% get that. Mr. Drennan and I appreciate we have the support of the committee on this. Teagasc needs to be involved, as does the processing industry. We need to sit down with the EPA too and see exactly what it is telling us we have to do to get delivery of this. When we look at water, what is stable water? What constitutes good water quality compared to poor water...

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

...in water quality. We are looking for fair play. We believe the measures we have taken on farms will deliver. We need them to be given time. To move things on at farm level, we want the EPA to be clear what its ask is and how it goes about assessing water quality. We want grant aid for all farmers. Today, if you are in derogation you are not entitled to grant aid - sorry, if you do...

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

Michael Fitzmaurice: ...a few things and we need to be honest with them about those. The part about objections to planning is going on at the moment. The problem is that every council has a little document sent by the Department of housing. The witnesses should bear one thing in mind. Deputy Cahill, Senators Lombard and Daly and I went to Brussels and saw the Commissioner. To be frank, and in fairness to the...

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

Johnny Mythen: .... The situation is serious. It is very worrying for me to read the presentations. A small farmer is going to be crushed, so something must be done. Do farmers get the proper data for the catchment areas? Is the EPA responsible for that? Who is responsible for providing the data? The witnesses said a farmer could be 20 km, 30 km, 40 km or 50 km away but could be condemned as much...

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

Mr. John Murphy: Of course, but the EPA is the official statutory body to report on these issues and it does not recognise those figures coming from those bodies, so that is an issue for us. There is an issue of confidence. We are not going to lose the derogation. This country is not heavily stocked with livestock. It is not heavily stocked with people either. It is not a densely...

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

Tim Lombard: ...and the empowerment of farmers with information? This is probably the key issue. I am referring in particular to getting out information on water testing. Is there a deficit of knowledge about EPA testing in the farming community regarding what is happening in our rivers? When the EPA tests a body of water, it can take months, if not years, for the information to be made public. How...

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

Dr. Maria Snell: I will start with the first question, on the data. There are a few different parts to the chain. Data collected by the EPA give us certain information on the status of the river. There are a few steps to come back from that, one being that farmers, especially young farmers, are very keen to have a data-driven approach. We now live in a world in which data is driving...

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

Mr. John Murphy: The EPA is responsible for catchment areas. My understanding is that it does not recognise those figures. That is a Teagasc programme set up and funded by the State in 2010 to gather information but the EPA does not use those statistics. It uses its own figures, so we have issues with that. There should be more collaboration. We are told the EPA is not using them in the...