John Paul O'Shea (Cork North-West, Fine Gael)
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60. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the work his Department is undertaking to prevent any future incidents similar to the Blackwater incident which occurred recently; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60335/25]

John Paul O'Shea (Cork North-West, Fine Gael)
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61. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the steps being taken to minimise the risk factors that contributed to the Blackwater fish kill incident. [60336/25]

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 60 and 61 together.

I wish again to acknowledge the seriousness of the fish kill that occurred on the River Blackwater and its tributaries near Mallow, Co Cork, and I fully recognise the enormous impact this incident has had on local communities, anglers and users of this important river catchment.

The investigation into the fish kill has now concluded and a summary report on the investigation was published on 25 September by Inland Fisheries Ireland on behalf of the inter-agency group set up to coordinate the investigation. This report provides a clear account of the State’s response to, and the investigation into, the incident.

The priority now is to apply lessons learned from this event, strengthen enforcement and build resilience, to ensure that we are better prepared to prevent and respond to any such future incidents. In that regard, I wrote to the Chair of IFI on 10 October 2025 requesting that IFI, as the primary agency for investigating fish kills, lead an independent incident review on behalf of the Inter-Agency Group that was established to carry out an investigation into the significant fish kill on the River Blackwater in August 2025. The purpose of the review is to consider the actions taken during the Blackwater incident, assess their effectiveness and make recommendations on how future prevention and response can be improved.