THE GOVERNMENT HAS launched a plan to improve water quality in Ireland and restore freshwater habitats.
Malcolm Noonan, Minister of State with responsibility for nature, heritage and electoral reform, said the water action plan 2024 is a key step in delivering on obligations under the EU water framework directive.
The plan is a “marked departure from previous plans,” Noonan told RTÉ Radio this morning, adding that engaging communities involved was a priority.
Pressed about whether or not the plan would be supported by new funding, Noonan said “not necessarily”.
The quality of Ireland’s waters has been the source of political divisions in recent years and has seen a case referred to an EU court.
A report by the Environmental Protection Agency in June found that no improvements had been made to Irish water quality.
Noonan said the plan sets out a roadmap to restore Ireland’s water bodies to “good” status or better, and protect against further deterioration in the period from 2023 to 2027 through an integrated catchment management approach.
Ireland’s inland waterways are divided into different areas called catchments.
Key actions include tighter controls on the use of fertilisers that impact water quality, a greater focus on compliance and enforcement with more than 60 new staff at local level, and a target of 4,500 farm inspections per year.
In addition, continued investment in wastewater infrastructure will see Uisce Eireann spending a multi-billion euro budget over the period 2025-2029 to reduce impacts on water quality.
A new national river barriers mitigation programme will ramp up efforts to remove river blocks that impact on species like salmon and lamprey swimming upstream to spawn, and a review of arterial drainage requirements and the underpinning Arterial Drainage Act will be undertaken in the context of land use.
“There are three core aims: to prevent and reduce water pollution, to let more rivers run free and restore their natural ecosystem functions, and to continue the positive trajectory of investment in water infrastructure,” Malcolm Noonan said.
Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien said the plan was a crucial part of the programme for government.
He said: “It strategically builds on what we learned from previous plans and its combination of short and long-term goals, targets and actions will work in unison to protect the quality of our water bodies.
“This plan puts us on a strong course to protecting our ecosystems and meeting our EU and international obligations.”
The Sustainable Water Network (SWAN), a collection of 25 environmental organisations described the announced plan as “a failed opportunity to introduce the strong measures needed to tackle water pollution and other damage to our rivers, lakes, and coastal habitats”.
Sinéad O’ Brien, the group’s co-ordinator said, “Only 54% of our waters are currently healthy which in itself is completely unacceptable. It is therefore deeply disappointing that, when the measures in this plan are implemented, this is only projected to increase to 60% at best.
She said the plan “shied away from introducing the measures that were really needed to halt and reverse pollution from agricultural and forestry run-off”
She also criticised the plan for not adequately identifying and addressing “the considerable pressures we have on our coastal waters”.
With reporting from Press Association
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