Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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Question 44: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his views on the EU nitrate level report that had, among other findings, reported that Ireland had rising nitrates in groundwater at more than 30% of monitoring stations; and the progress that has been made on this matter. [12014/10]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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The EU report in question is a summary report based on returns from Member States in accordance with Article 10 of the Nitrates Directive (91/676/EEC). Article 10 requires Member States to submit a report every four years which, inter alia, must include a summary of the monitoring results at representative and other water monitoring stations.

Ireland's return was prepared by the EPA and covered the period 2004 to 2007. The EPA reported that for the period in question, the trend in nitrate concentration showed a decline at 23% of groundwater sampling points and an increase at 46% of sampling points.

However, recent results from the EPA national monitoring programme indicate that nitrate levels in groundwater have begun to stabilize. Data for 2008 shows a marked decrease in the proportion of wells with nitrate concentrations greater than 25 milligrams per litre, compared to the 2007 values, although it is too soon to draw definitive conclusions as to whether this marks the start of a downward trend.