Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein)
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54. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the status of his Department’s work in preparing the second river basin management plan; and if he plans the plan will be ready to submit to European Commission in quarter one of 2017. [35435/16]

Declan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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161. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the progress on the development of second cycle river basin management plan; if consideration will be given to the Neagh Bann river basin plan which crosses the border counties in view of Brexit; if these plans will be in place by the end of 2017 as promised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35610/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 54 and 161 together.

The Water Framework Directive (Directive 2000/60/EC of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy) establishes a common framework for the protection of inland surface waters, transitional waters, coastal waters and groundwater. The overall aim of the Directive is to maintain high and good status waters where they exist and to restore waters that do not currently adequately support aquatic ecosystems. River basin management planning, structured in six -year cycles, is the tool prescribed by the Directive for achieving these aims.

The second-cycle River Basin Management Plan (RBMP) for the period up to 2021 is in preparation at the moment, and the draft Pl an is scheduled to be published in the coming months. A six-month public consultation process will take place in the first half of 2017, and the finalised second-cycle RBMP is due for completion by the end of 2017. Once finalised, the second-cycle RBMP will be submitted to the European Commission within three months of its publication.

There is ongoing north-south cooperation on implementation of the Water Framework Directive. In the context of the development of the second cycle RBMP for Ireland, it is intended that there will be a single national River Basin District (RBD) resulting from a merger of the Eastern, South Eastern, South Western, Western an d Shannon River Basin Districts that had been provided for in the first cycle RBMP. In addition, a single administrative area will be established for the purpose of coordinating water management with authorities in Northern Ireland for both the North Western and Neagh Bann International RBDs.