Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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125. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is concerned by the impact of agricultural pollution on waterways in light of the massive fishkill on the Blackwater; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55020/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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Firstly, my colleague Minister Browne is responsible for the Nitrates Regulations along with other water related Regulations including the Water Framework Directive and development of Ireland's River Basin Management Plan.

In relation to the fish kill in the River Blackwater, an inter-agency group was set up to investigate this, led by Inland Fisheries Ireland and consisting of relevant state agencies and government departments.

The Key Findings from this group's work show that there is no evidence of a chronic water quality problem before or after the fish mortalities and that water quality before and after the fish kill indicate that the catchment was predominately at good status. This data included nutrient enrichment data and showed values within the typical range.

The Marine Institute identified, 'some form of environmental insult or water borne irritant' as the likely cause of the Blackwater fish kill.

It is clear however that agriculture is a pressure on water quality both nationally and often at a catchment level, including in the Blackwater catchment.

Nationally, there has been significant work and engagement across the entire agri-food sector over recent years in relation to water quality and its important that this continues.

The Teagasc 'Better Farming for Water' advisory campaign was launched in 2024 bringing together farmers, advisors, researchers, agri-food industry, government and community groups in a collective effort to support farmers implementing solutions to address local water quality issues. As part of this programme Teagasc have appointed eight catchment co-coordinators to improve water quality in eight of Ireland's most important rivers, including the Blackwater.

In addition to this campaign, the Farming for Water European Innovation Partnership is supporting targeted additional measures in priority areas to improve water quality. Other schemes providing funding for measures that are beneficial for water quality include ACRES, TAMS, LIFE projects and other local projects.

It is crucially important that we continue the ongoing work on water quality at a national level, and especially in priority areas for action. Regulation, incentives, advisory and education are all paramount to achieving this and the existing significant commitment and engagement is recognised. However we also have to recognise that due to lag times it will take time before the impact of these actions becomes fully visible in our water quality data

Briefing Issue:

A significant fishkill occurred in the River Blackwater in August 2025.

A multi-agency investigation found no evidence of a chronic water quality problem before or after the fish kill; this shows there was no causal link found between agriculture and this fish kill.

Multi-Agency Investigation and Report

An inter-agency group was set up to investigate the fish kill, led by Inland Fisheries Ireland and also involving the Environment Protection Agency (EPA), Cork County Council, the Marine Institute, Uisce Eireann, DAFM, the Health Service Executive, National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO).

The Key findings of the investigation show no evidence found to link the fish kill to a point source of pollution or a specific environmental insult or waterborne irritant.

No evidence of chemicals including pesticides was detected by a wide ranging chemical analysis of fish samples – over 900 chemicals. This suggests a short-term pollution event.

Assessment of water quality prior to and after the event indicated that water was predominately at good status in the catchment. This data included nutrient enrichment data and showed values within the typical range.

This shows there is no evidence of a link between agricultural pollution and this fish kill.

Agriculture as a Pressure on Water

Agriculture is one of the main pressures on water quality mainly from excess nutrients, nitrogen and phosphorus.

Agriculture is the most prevalent significant pressure impacting over 1,000 water bodies. This is not surprising as agriculture is also Ireland’s dominant land use, occupying approximately two-thirds of our national land area.

Nitrate Concentrations in our rivers and estuaries are too high and need to be reduced in the south and southeast of the country.

Ongoing action for water quality

There has been significant engagement within the agri-food sector over the last number of years in relation to improving water quality.

Due to lag times it will take time before the full impact of these measures becomes visible. However it is vital to continue and develop this momentum.

The Nitrates Regulations form the baseline for reducing nutrient losses and improving water quality, however incentivisation, industry support, as well as knowledge exchange and advisory are also key aspects required to achieve the optimum overall approach.

The Agricultural Sustainability Support and Advisory Programme - ASSAP

The Agricultural Sustainability Support and Advisory Programme (ASSAP) is an innovative government-industry collaborative initiative with support from farm organisations. Launched in late 2018, it provides free and confidential agricultural advice regarding water quality through a dedicated team of sustainability advisors known as the ASSAP advisors.

The State funds 20 ASSAP advisers. Initially the dairy industry funded nine ASSAP advisers, however that has more than trebled and when combined with advisers working for meat processors there are now ~40 ASSAP advisors funded by industry.

Farming for Water EIP

The 'Farming for Water' EIP launched in 2024 is a €60 million collaborative approach between DAFM and DHLGH with €50 million ring-fenced for farmer payments. This significant funding is incentivising farmers to target additional measures going beyond regulatory requirements in priority areas. The objective is to engage 15,000 farmers nationally in the EIP.

Teagasc Better Farming for Water Campaign

The Teagasc 'Better Farming for Water' Campaign is promoting eight key actions for change related to nutrient management, farmyard management and land management. The objective of the campaign is to support farmers to reduce the loads of nitrogen, phosphorus, sediment and pesticides entering our river network from agricultural sources.

TAMS

DAFM is providing grant aid support for low emission slurry spreading equipment and manure storage. Since 2015 a total of over €153m has been paid to farmers supporting significant investments on Irish farms in manure storage and low emission slurry spreading technology.

Water and Air Quality Division

10/10/2025