Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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364. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government when a water extraction licensing regime will be introduced; if such a regime is required under the terms of the Water Framework Directive; and if such a register would apply to all water extraction including public and commercial operations. [35123/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Water Framework Directive requires that abstractions of surface water or ground water which are likely to have a significant effect on water status must be regulated. My Department is currently examining how best to address this requirement in a proportionate and efficient way.

While no decisions will be made on any proposals in this regard until thorough public consultation is undertaken, I expect that a proportionate abstraction control regime can be developed that would effectively manage abstraction risks and pressures without imposing an unnecessary regulatory burden. Recognising the relatively low abstraction pressures in Ireland, the scale and extent of which will be set out in a draft River Basin Management Plan I expect to publish for public consultation in the coming months, it is expected that such a regime would focus on the most significant abstraction volumes and pressures, recognising that the Directive does not require the registration and licensing of private wells serving individual domestic dwellings.