Pat Gallagher (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

I thank Senator Ulick Burke for raising this issue. The Local Government (Water Pollution) Acts and related legislation designate local authorities as the water pollution control authorities. The control authority in this case is Galway County Council. Under the legislation, the Environmental Protection Agency acts in a general supervisory role. I have made inquiries about the matter. I will outline the circumstances in the wake of the Derrybrien mud slide incidents, as I understand them.

Galway County Council has served a section 23 notice on the ESB, Hibernian Wind Farms, Gort Wind Farms and Ascot Contractors under the Local Government (Water Pollution) (Amendment) Act 1990. The council is seeking full information on the Derrybrien incident. The section 23 provisions empower local authorities to serve notice in writing on certain persons, requiring them to give full information in respect of activities or practices that may have led to a water pollution incident. It is not appropriate for the council to seek formally to determine the cause of the mud slide, to ascertain liability or to impose requirements on liable parties for rehabilitation work on the river until it has received the information demanded under the section 23 notices. The council has spent almost €100,000 on River Owendalulleegh remedial work so far. The river has been diverted in the area affected by the mud slide to reduce the amount of silt reaching Lough Cutra. The water quality in the lake is improving, but further heavy rainfall could lead to another build-up of silt.

The Environmental Protection Agency has assisted the council by giving it advice and by monitoring the water quality of Lough Cutra. The agency monitored the River Owendalulleegh two weeks ago. The results of water samples monitored for their chemistry were more or less normal. An ecological assessment of the lake, under the requirements of the water framework directive, was undertaken before the mud slide. Further monitoring, which will take place in the spring or summer of next year, will prove useful as an accurate comparison. I understand that biological life has been seriously compromised at the top part of the River Owendalulleegh, but biological life further down the river appears to have survived relatively well. Most of the loose peat went onto the flood plain and the lake and the main river channel is more or less as normal. The EPA hopes that trout spawning will not be impaired and that intervention will not be required to restock the river with trout.