New national policy aiming to clean up Ireland’s water bodies launched
Local Senator and Junior Minister Pippa Hackett has hailed a new national policy that aims to clean up Ireland’s water bodies as a crucial step towards the protection of Ireland's environment and public health.
The policy, titled ‘Water Action Plan 2024: Ireland’s third River Basin Management Plan’, was launched by Minister of State with responsibility for Nature, Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan TD on Thursday, September 5.
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.
Key actions in the plan include tighter controls on the use of fertilisers that impact water quality, a greater focus on compliance and enforcement with over 60 new staff at local level, and a target or 4,500 farm inspections per year.
In addition, continued investment in wastewater infrastructure will see Uisce Éireann designating a multi-billion euro budget over the period 2025-2029 to reduce impacts on water quality.
At the launch, Minister Hackett said, “Half of Ireland’s rivers, a third of our lakes and two thirds of our transitional waters are classified as having ‘moderate’, ‘poor’ or ‘bad’ status, and these numbers are broadly similar to where we were before the last plan, which ran up to 2021.
“Our rivers, lakes, aquifers and groundwater sources are vital to the health of the people of Offaly and the people of Ireland, and a focused and resourced project to clean them up is overdue, frankly.”
The launch also saw the announcement of the Community Water Development Fund for 2025, which is administered by the Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO), with funding from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
This scheme provides funding to local communities and groups to support the delivery of projects and initiatives to enhance local water bodies and benefit water quality and biodiversity.
The Green Party m,inister, who is a long-time Geashill resident, said, “We’ve seen the pressure that is put on our infrastructure in areas like housing and health when we don’t allow for population expansion, and everything that comes with that.
Our water is every bit as important as the food we eat and the roof over our heads, and it’s often critically connected to those issues too.
“It’s vital that we take action now to be prepared for future population growth, not to mention to preserve and enhance our local waterways as public amenities, where people can enjoy them and trust that they can do so without any concerns over their health.
“This new plan puts communities at the heart of the action, empowering local people to understand the challenges in their area and get involved in solving them, since they know their own landscapes and waterways better than anyone.
“It’s also about the tough stuff like governance, enforcement and accountability - this plan is stronger than ever on those issues, and will be welcomed by everyone that follows the rules and respects our environment, and our water bodies,” she concluded.