Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party)
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201. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of inspections carried out by local authorities in priority areas for action under the 2nd Cycle River Basin Management Plan 2018-2021 under the Local Authorities Water Programme; the number of non-compliance incidents registered; the number of enforcements and penalties issued; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51851/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Primary responsibility for the monitoring, management, protection and improvement of water quality is assigned to local authorities under the Local Government (Water Pollution) Acts and related legislation.  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), through its Office of Environmental Enforcement, exercises general supervision in relation to the performance of these functions by local authorities.

Local authorities develop annual enforcement plans to allocate resources where they are needed most. Their activities are planned based on the risk posed to the environment and what is deemed a priority. Information on the number of inspections carried out, non-compliances identified, enforcement activities and prosecutions by local authorities is outlined in the latest activity report on Local Authority Environmental Enforcement available on the EPA’s website:www.epa.ie/publications/compliance--enforcement/public-authorities/focus-on-local-authority-environmental-enforcement---activity-report-2019.php .

 The River Basin Management Plan for Ireland 2018-2021 sets out the actions that Ireland will take to improve water quality and achieve ‘good’ ecological status in water bodies (rivers, lakes, estuaries and coastal waters) by 2027 and meet the objectives of the EU Water Framework Directive.

This Plan identified 190 Priority Areas for Action (PAA) around which the Local Authority Waters Programme’s (LAWPRO) work is concentrated. These catchment areas have been prioritised for focussed scientific assessment to understand the issues affecting water quality. Working with local communities, landowners, business owners and public bodies, LAWPRO then seeks to develop relevant and workable solutions to identified issues.

 This work involves a multidisciplinary and cross-agency approach, working with stakeholders such as the EPA and the Agricultural Sustainability Support and Advisory Programme (ASSAP).  The ASSAP provides 30 sustainability advisors who work collaboratively with farmers in these PAAs. Funded by my Department, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the dairy industry, the progromme provides farmers with free advice and support that will enable them to contribute to the protection and enhancement of water quality. A voluntary and collaborative service, ASSAP aims to improve the water quality of these catchments by working together without the need for penalties or restrictions.

 The first Step of LAWPRO’s work in a PAA, is to improve the scientific understanding by gathering and collating all relevant and available data into a Desktop Study Report.  This ensures there is a focus on the issues that are significantly affecting water quality and the mitigation actions that need to be prioritised. 

 Another important aspect of LAWPRO’s work in the PAA’s is informing and working with local communities. Following their desktop studies and prior to commencing their fieldwork assessments, LAWPRO organises a community information meeting to discuss the water body with local people and interest groups. Local meetings are followed by farmer engagement events organised by advisors from ASSAP, with the support of LAWPRO staff.

 Environmental scientists then walk the catchment and take samples throughout to determine the water quality. Using this data, local knowledge and data previously collected, they will identify the pressures within the catchment that threaten the catchments water quality.

 Once the fieldwork is concluded and analysed, LAWPRO discuss the outcome of the assessment with the relevant implementing bodies or landowners, agreeing timelines for implementation of measures to improve water quality. The advisors from the ASSAP will discuss any agricultural measures with the farmers. With the assistance of the farmer, the ASSAP advisor will seek to identify the main source of pollution to the catchment and agree the draft actions to be acted upon. In many cases, these can be simple adjustments to management practices such as the better use of fertilisers to minimise their runoff into waterways.

 I understand that while work in the PAA’s is being undertaken by ASSAP, local authorities have agreed not to carry out routine water inspections on farms within these catchments. However, other routine inspections such as discharge licenses, private drinking water supplies and septic tanks, along with non-routine inspections including pollution incidents and complaints, are still being investigated in these areas. This decision will be continually reviewed as part of the local authorities’ ongoing development of annual enforcement plans.

 Further information in relation to the PAA’s is available on LAWPRO’s website at www.lawaters.ie/priority-areas-for-action/, with additional information on water quality and the status of waters available on www.catchments.ie .  

 As key commitment in the Programme for Government, my Department is currently preparing a new strengthened River Basin Management Plan for Ireland, to cover the period 2022 – 2027. Further advancing Ireland’s commitment to the implementation of the Water Framework Directive, the new plan will build on the work of the second-cycle, again describing the main pressures and activities affecting water status and setting out the environmental objectives to be achieved up to 2027. The plan will also identify the measures needed to achieve these objectives, including proposed changes to the approach taken to Areas for Action.

A draft copy of this plan was recently published for public consultation, details of which are available on the department’s website at www.gov.ie/draftRBMP .