Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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39. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Water Quality will next meet. [53073/25]

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Cabinet Committee on Water Quality oversees implementation of Programme for Government commitments in relation to the range of issues affecting Ireland’s water system.

The Committee last met on the 30th of October and the date of its next meeting has not yet been scheduled.

The Cabinet Committee is informed by the work of the Environmental Protection Agency, which monitors and reports on water quality in Ireland.

The EPA recently published its report on Water Quality in Ireland 2019-2024, which shows improvements in water quality in some areas but, worryingly, an overall decline in waterbodies having a satisfactory ecological condition.

While the overall ecological status of Ireland’s waters is significantly better than the EU average, the downward trend is a matter of concern.

One sign of encouragement from the latest report is that targeted action in the agricultural sector and improvements in wastewater treatment seem to be paying dividends, with lower reported levels of nutrients in water bodies where coordinated and targeted actions have been taken.

The Cabinet Committee has also examined the investment programme of Uisce Éireann to improve wastewater treatment capacity and its plans to ensure best practice in the maintenance and management of its existing wastewater treatment operations throughout Ireland.

Since 2014 85% of raw sewage discharges across the State have been eliminated and continued Government investment has seen the number of water bodies being adversely affected by substandard urban wastewater treatment reduce significantly. The remaining sites are being addressed as part of a priority action list.

Last year the Government published the Water Action Plan 2024, Ireland’s roadmap to protect and restore our rivers, lakes, estuaries, coastal waters and ground-waters.

The plan aims to have an additional 300 water bodies achieve ‘good’ status by 2027, with targeted measures to improve over 500 more.

The Government also published ‘Water and Agriculture – a collaborative approach’, which sets out measures to address the twin objectives of improving water quality and demonstrating that a robust case exists for the maintenance of a derogation for Ireland from certain aspects of the EU Nitrates Directive.

In October, Minister Browne published a draft Nitrates Action Programme, that will form the basis of Ireland’s ongoing discussions with the EU Commission on a new derogation. The Minister has invited submissions from the public on its contents, with a closing date of 30 November.

EU Environment Commissioner Roswall visited Ireland last week to discuss Ireland’s application for a derogation and the importance of its continuation to our outdoor, grass-based livestock systems with Minister Heydon.

Discussion with the Commission are ongoing to find an approach that allows for the continuation of high-quality dairy and beef production by derogation farmers while ensuring that we sufficiently protect the quality and ecological status of our rivers, lakes and estuaries.