Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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133. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the status of the forthcoming river basin management plan; and if he will consult the relevant Oireachtas committee and stakeholders in advance of the publication of the draft plan due for completion in 2021. [17529/20]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is currently preparing the third River Basin Management Plan (RBMP) for Ireland to cover the period 2021-2027. Building on work during the second cycle, this plan will describe the main pressures and activities affecting water status, set out the environmental objectives to be achieved up to 2027 and identify the measures needed to achieve these objectives.

My Department is engaging in public consultation at three critical phases in the river basin management process. These are:

1. Outlining the draft timetable and consultation arrangements for development of second cycle RBMP,

2. Identification of the significant water management issues for the third round of planning, and

3. Publication of draft river basin management plans.

In relation to the first phase, my Department launched a six-month consultation on the draft timetable and work programme for the third cycle in December 2018. In response to this consultation my Department received 28 submissions from a mix of individuals, community groups, local authorities, companies and other key stakeholders.

A public consultation on the Significant Water Management Issues (SWMI) for Ireland, which is currently underway, is the second phase of engagement in the development of the final plan. The purpose of this consultation phase is to gather stakeholder’s views and reach agreement on what are considered to be the significant water management issues and how they should be addressed in the planning process for the next plan. Further details of this consultation is available on my Department’s website at .

To obtain the views of stakeholders and to discuss whether appropriate issues had been identified for inclusion in the consultation document, initial input was also sought from various stakeholders. This took place through bi-lateral engagements, such as meetings with the Environmental Protection Agency, An Foram Uisce (The National Water Forum), the Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO), as well as a wider stakeholder event held on 19 November 2019 in Dublin Castle for approximately 80 stakeholders. These engagements allowed my Department to finalise the public consultation document that outlined 4 societal factors and 8 environmental pressures for consideration.

Launched on 20 December 2019, the consultation document also sets out the background to the Water Framework Directive and the development of RBMPs, the current status of our surface, ground and estuarine waters and the pressures thereon and what we understand to be the significant water management issues facing Ireland in the next RBMP cycle. People are invited to provide their views on the issues identified, suggest actions to address these issues and identify any other issues that could be addressed in the next plan.

In addition to the normal notification on the website, the Department undertook to raise awareness of the consultation process by sending notifications to various stakeholders, through the placement of newspaper advertisements and with the issuing of regular tweets.

With consultation periods required to run for a minimum of 6 months under the Water Framework Directive, this consultation was due to close on Friday, 26 June. However, due to Covid-19 and the restrictions people faced during the public consultation period, there has been an extension to the public consultation on the Significant Water Management Issues for Ireland. The extended consultation will now run until 5pm on Friday, 7 August 2020.

Following the completion of the consultation, the responses will be gathered and analysed by officials with a view to using the information to influence the shape of the draft RBMP. The responses received will also be considered by WPAC - the Water Policy Advisory Committee (established under S.I. 350 of 2014 to advise the Minister on development of RBMPs and implementation of the Water Framework Directive).

This SWMI public consultation process will actively inform the development of a programme of measures under the third RBMP, a draft of which will be published in December 2020. A further 6 month public consultation process on the draft RBMP will occur in the first half of 2021, with the finalised RBMP planned to be published by the end of 2021.

The extent, depth and complexities of discussions on measures for inclusion in the third RBMP are significant. With this in mind a small team of representatives from my Department, the EPA and local authorities (drawn from LAWPRO), who represent the three lead authorities responsible for the preparation and implementation of the RBMP, has been assembled. This Programme of Measures Development Team will also engage in bilateral discussions throughout the preparation of the 3^rdplan with key stakeholders. Theses Stakeholders have been identified are those that will be expected to take some form of action or implement some type of measure to address the issues relevant to their organisation.

My Department will also be happy to engage with the relevant Oireachtas Committee on the plan once established.