There is a “move away” from the four specific criteria set by the European Commission for the assessment of Ireland’s nitrates derogation, an Oireachtas committee has heard.
This is according to the policy advisor in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage’s Water Advisory Unit of the Water Division, Dr. Marie Archbold.
The commission’s criteria was set specially for the derogation decision and is separate to what the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would normally report on, Dr. Archbold said.
“We are not tied to that [criteria] in terms of the annual reporting that goes to Europe on the derogation [and] it doesn’t mean that we are tied to it going forward either,” she added.
Currently, if one of the four criteria is failed, a nitrates derogation will not be granted, the Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine heard yesterday (Wednesday, March 20).
Derogation
The policy advisor told the committee that the commission made it “very clear” that the criteria going forward in order to get a nitrates derogation shifted to two different criteria.
These are that Ireland would need to demonstrate that there is no deterioration in water bodies already in “good status” and an improvement in those that are currently not in good status.
“I think there’s a move away from the four criteria […] to the language that’s coming from the commission now in terms of we need to demonstrate those two criteria,” she said.
Independent TD, Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice, who recently joined Independent Ireland, raised the question when decisions will be made on which criteria will apply for the next review.
The department will start negotiations with the commission at the end of 2024 which will extend into the end of 2025 and throughout which this decision will be made, she said.
Water quality
Representatives of the Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO) also addressed the committee as part of a series of meetings taking place on Ireland’s nitrates derogation.
Raising the issue of sewage flowing into rivers, Deputy Fitzmaurice told LAWPRO director of services, Anthony Coleman that “hundreds of towns and villages” have no sewage infrastructure.
Coleman could not provide figures when asked by the deputy how many towns or villages have no sewage infrastructure in place and how many of these LAWPRO controls.
Similarly, wastewater compliance senior manager at Uisce Éireann, Niall Horgan could not provide information on how many towns with infrastructure need upgrades or new systems.
“If you don’t know, how can you know how to fix a problem? The dog on the street knows that there is sewage going into rivers,” Deputy Fitzmaurice said in response to Horgan.
The deputy criticised that in Leitrim, where he said there was one derogation farmer, and in the west of Ireland, which are not dairy counties, farmers have a “red mark” over them.
Meanwhile, LAWPRO and Uisce Éireann “still don’t know” how much they have contributed to the water quality issues which resulted in the inclusion of areas under the EPA’s red map.
Uisce Éireann was identified as impacting on 4% of water bodies in which areas work is progressing, Horgan said without confirming whether that work will be completed in 2025.