Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses. It is very important that the EPA is here. I want to acknowledge the opening statement and the information given. I will start with the opening statement which stated that we could expect an improvement in nitrogen levels within six months to a year at a national level. Dr. Cotter might expand on that point and on the research done to make sure we have the data required to see that huge change, potentially in a year, in water quality. What I reference is the report issued by the EPA yesterday. It was a significant report which showed there has been a reduction in fertiliser and nitrogen by 18%. It was a really positive report in terms of where we are with our greenhouse gases. It stated that one of the key reasons we reduced our greenhouse gases was because of the reduction in nitrogen. That was an 18% reduction in nitrogen.

On the other side of that, we are saying that potentially we could see within a year the knock-on implications of that in the quality of water. Would Dr. Cotter be confident, in terms of the 2023 report, that we will see an 18% reduction in nitrates, or is this a very complicated thing, in that I am not familiar with how long it would take the nitrate level to fall? We have seen it fall in the report published yesterday, but would Dr. Cotter be confident on the back of that there will be a fall in 2023?