The unwillingness of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to adopt a number of significant amendments to the Water Environment (Abstractions and Associated Impoundments) Bill 2022 will result in unworkable and counterproductive legislation being introduced, according to Independent TD for Laois-Offaly, Carol Nolan.
Deputy Nolan was speaking during a Dáil debate on the Bill, where she also criticised the rushed nature of the Bill and the lack of meaningful dialogue with farmers and farmer representative bodies.
The seeks to transpose elements of the EU Water Directive into Irish law and to put in place a system of controls to protect the environment and abstraction of freshwater, surface and groundwater and impoundment of fresh surface water:
“The IFA have offered a number of serious, credible and proportionate amendments to this Bill, but they have all been dismissed. This speaks to a worrying lack of interest in the actual reality of farm operations, as opposed to what that should look like on paper,” said Deputy Nolan.
“I know there are particular concerns around provisions of the Bill which could grants excessive powers to the Minister particularly with respect to the definition of licensing threshold and registration threshold. The IFA say that this creates massive levels of uncertainty for farmers, and they need it addressed urgently, and I agree with them.”
“Failure to amend this aspect of the Bill creates the impression that the Minister is more concerned with maintaining the whip hand over farmers than actively engaging with them as stakeholders that know far better than he does what it will take to make this Bill work.”
“In the wider sense, by not accepting the IFA amendments the Minister and indeed government appear to agree with the perception that farmers are somehow not doing their part when it comes to protecting freshwater supply and surface and groundwater and that they must be allowed no flexibility in these matters. That is an utterly wrong-headed approach to take.”
“The Minister must press the pause button; agree to engage with farmers and their representatives and amend the Bill accordingly so that it does become one more piece of disproportionately burdensome legislation unmoored from the reality of farm life,” concluded Deputy Nolan.