Seanad debates

Wednesday, 16 November 2022

Water Environment (Abstractions and Associated Impoundments) Bill 2022: Committee Stage

 

10:30 am

Photo of Peter BurkePeter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Boyhan for his remarks. The power to reduce the threshold where it is deemed necessary by the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, on environmental grounds is a key environmental protection included in the Bill, and a key factor in establishing a risk-based registration and licensing regime. Removing reference to the threshold as potentially altered by ministerial order under section 16 would potentially have negative effects on the environment into the future and contribute to the failure of water bodies to meet their environmental objectives.

The licensing threshold of 2,000 cu. m per day will capture approximately 326 of the currently registered abstractions. This equates to more than 99.5% of the total volume of water abstracted in Ireland on any given day. The risk-based element of the licensing regime provides that all abstractions between 25 and 2,000 cu. m per day will be assessed by the EPA to determine if they require a licence or not. Based on initial evidence from the river basin management planning process, the EPA estimates that several hundred more abstractions will require a licence once this assessment has been completed.

Ultimately, the same powers exist for the EPA to advise the Minister on the licensing threshold as for the registration threshold, and the Minister will have the power to reduce the licensing threshold if necessary to provide for additional protection to our surface and groundwaters.

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