Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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202. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will report on the recent national efforts on assessing and improving quality of inland waters particularly in the context of the health of inland fish stocks. [13295/21]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Monitoring, assessing  and addressing water quality falls within the remit of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, the Environmental Protection Agency and local authorities operating under a suite of national and EU legislation. My Department via Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI), contributes to national water quality efforts via the monitoring of the health of fish stocks and reporting to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.  

While this is a small component of the overall national effort, I consider it an important contribution, as fish health trends are among the most  practical  barometers of water quality. A formal agreement is in place with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to carry out this work and IFI are committed to maintaining this contribution.