Results 21-40 of 124 for epa speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Septic Tanks (21 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department does not compile the information requested. The Water Services Act 2007 (as amended) requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to produce a national inspection plan for domestic waste water treatment systems, also known as septic tanks. The EPA report on the implementation of the plan and publishes information on inspections and enforcement on an annual basis. The...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (21 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: ...a waste licence vest in the Environmental Protection Agency. The Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992 and the Waste Management Act 1996 already adequately and in more detail provide that the EPA is responsible for controlling emissions for licensed activities and that the control of emissions should not be a matter for planning conditions. As such, there is no need for this provision...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (21 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: This was the clear advice of the OPC in consultation with the Attorney General's office. Legal codes need to stay separate. We got very firm advice that there should be no crossover. That is the reason for the amendment to delete the section. It is already well covered under the two Acts that have already gone through, the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992 and the Waste Management...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (21 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: ...I do not have that information to hand and we are checking now. I said in response to Deputy Ó Broin's intervention that planning permission and permissions granted relate to use. Emissions are separate and are matters for licensing. Take, for example, a wastewater treatment plant, for argument's sake. Considerations in that regard include the capacity and what is allowed by the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Water Quality (15 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: ...rivers, lakes and marine areas and compliance with EU Directives. Overall, Ireland has good drinking water quality. In its Drinking Water Quality Report for 2022, which was published in 2023, the EPA confirmed that “compliance rates are consistently high year to year” with over 99.7% of samples compliant with bacterial and chemical limits in 2022.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Water Supply (30 Jan 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: ...capital upgrades completed to ensure that treatment levels are compliant with the requirements of the Drinking Water Directive. The remainder are currently undergoing capital upgrades and improvements. My Department will now study the judgement carefully and will engage with the European Commission, Uisce Éireann and local authorities to agree a work programme to address any...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Water Quality (14 Dec 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department provides funding support to the private water sector and to individual households by way of capital grants and an annual subsidy through the Rural Water Programme. Private water supplies are those supplies not operated by Uisce Éireann and includes group water schemes, small private supplies and private wells. The local authorities have responsibility for the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Water Services (14 Dec 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: ...of 5 regional committees, which drive the delivery of supporting measures at local level. These structures are further supported by the Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO). Funded by my Department (€9,157,875 in 2023), LAWPRO acts as a local government national shared service and is responsible for;Coordinating efforts by local authorities, public bodies and other stakeholders...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Water Pollution (7 Dec 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: ...this will go to Uisce Éireann. This investment will deliver significant improvements in public wastewater services and improve water quality in rivers, lakes and marine areas. In relation to the Sligo and Leitrim area, the EPA Urban Wastewater Treatment Report 2022 does not indicate any raw sewage discharges in the Sligo Leitrim area as of mid-2023.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Horticulture Sector (28 Nov 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: ...of greater than 50 hectares requires both planning consent from a planning authority or An Bord Pleanála, and Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) licensing from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), both of which regimes require EIA to be carried out by the respective competent authorities (i.e. planning authority and the EPA) and also AA if relevant. As the current legislative...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Septic Tanks (28 Nov 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: There are currently three separate Domestic Waste Water Treatment System (DWWTS) grant schemes, commonly known as Septic Tank Grants, available to householders. The purpose of the grants is to provide financial assistance to householders to repair or upgrade septic tanks. In order to avail of the grants, householders must have failed an inspection under the National Inspection Plan and be...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Septic Tanks (28 Nov 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: ...nationally is set out in the National Inspection Plan for Domestic Waste Water Treatment Systems. Section 70K of the Water Services Act 2007 requires that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) prepare a National Inspection Plan that includes "appropriate and specific qualitative and quantitative criteria, targets and indicators for inspections". It is the responsibility of the water...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Water Supply (16 Nov 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: ...) Regulations 2018 provide for the establishment of a register of abstractions of water of more than 25 cubic metres per day. The register is maintained by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The 2018 Regulations provide that the EPA shall publish by electronic means, and in such abridged manner as it thinks fit, details of registered water abstractions. The EPA may share...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Septic Tanks (16 Nov 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department provides financial support through the domestic waste water treatment system (DWWTS) grant schemes to assist householders carry out works to their defective septic tanks. The grants are focused on the areas of greatest environmental priority to protect human health and the environment. They include a grant for necessary works where an advisory notice has been issued after an...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Water Pollution (9 Nov 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: Blessington Reservoir, also known as Pollaphuca Reservoir, is monitored by the EPA to assess its ecological health for the Water Framework Directive. The most recent full assessment, using data from 2016 to 2021, classified the lake as being in satisfactory ecological condition (Good Ecological Status). Algal blooms (phytoplankton over-growth) in lakes are a natural phenomenon that can...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Functions (25 Oct 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The protection of nature and the environment in Ireland is a responsibility shared by all of society. Various sectors and organisations, including several different Government departments, agencies and bodies all have key responsibilities in this regard. The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is an executive agency within my Department with primary responsibility for nature...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Water Pollution (10 Oct 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: ...level, including investment in waste water treatment plants and returning treated waste water safely to the environment in an efficient and sustainable manner. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the key statutory body for investigating complaints of pollution and for the enforcement, both directly and through oversight of Uisce Éireann and local authorities, of environmental...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Wastewater Treatment (6 Jul 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: ...country. There is no limit per local authority area on the number of schemes that could come forward. We have had over 20 and they have been assessed in detail. The Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, Uisce Éireann and my Department have gone through them. Some of the applications were not fully complete and we had to go back for additional information. I will make...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Water Pollution (4 Jul 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: Ireland’s Fifth Nitrates Action Programme, published in March 2022, commits to increasing Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine inspections of farms and to developing an enhanced local authority inspection and enforcement programme. In order to achieve this the National Agricultural Inspection Programme has been established and funded by my Department. This inspection and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Jun 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: ...an opportunity for transformative change with regard to achieving nature restoration in Ireland and in the EU as a whole. That is absolutely to be welcomed. She made reference to yesterday's EPA report and the challenges we face when it comes to water quality in watercourses across the country. Healthy ecosystems provide food and food security, clean water, carbon sinks and protection...