Results 761-780 of 1,042,198 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Tom Kitt OR speaker:Éamon Ó Cuív OR speaker:Éamon Ó Cuív06 OR speaker:Michael Fitzmaurice)

Courts, Civil Law, Criminal Law and Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (10 Jul 2024)

Brendan Howlin: As I said, this is a hotchpotch of a Bill because it deals with everything from broadcasting, to the Department of public expenditure with regard to pensions, to revocation of citizenship under the 1956 Act. Some things are proper to an end-of-term miscellaneous provisions discussion, things that we all agree should be done, and there will not be any suitable vehicle coming through. ...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2024)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Going by the reports done by the EPA and if it has to send a report next year, I know the witnesses have said it is an annual report. Regarding the report that has already gone to Europe on nitrates, would it be any better than what was sent before?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2024)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2024)

Michael Fitzmaurice: The west would have a high percentage of forestry. I see the EPA has done a chart on the pressures and it looks at it nationally. Leitrim is down as being high in phosphorous. Is that down to forestry because a huge percentage of the county is forestry?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2024)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Is it possible to get that? Does the EPA have that information?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2024)

Michael Fitzmaurice: People involved in the farming groups, including one in Senator Paul Daly's county, and farmers around the country are watching a lot of what is going on and are getting proactive. There seems to be considerable runoff. When you see green grass growing behind a sewage treatment plan, you know that something is coming out, to put it simply. The farming community is sending us photos, day in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2024)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I take Dr. Cotter's point.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2024)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I understand that inspections happen on an annual basis.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2024)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Is anybody checking on the recording in every plant? Dr. Cotter mentioned 73 areas. How many Uisce Éireann plants are there around the country?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2024)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Would it be fair to say that the EPA is looking at 15% of them? Dr. Cotter mentioned 73 sites.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2024)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Is there any person-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2024)

Michael Fitzmaurice: That is all right. Dr. Cotter said "on an annual basis". Does she mean once a year?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2024)

Michael Fitzmaurice: What is the average?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2024)

Michael Fitzmaurice: That is all right. I am throwing out a question to the witnesses. I presume the EPA has all the records of every plant in Ireland. Is that the case?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2024)

Michael Fitzmaurice: The records of the loads that are taken out and brought to another treatment plant. There is a flow meter. I will put it simply for anybody who understands sewerage. There is a flow meter in and a flow meter out. When you treat your sewage, you have a flow meter going out that indicates how many cubic metres have been let out and a flow meter going in that indicates how many cubic metres...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2024)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I take Mr. Byrne's point and thank him for answering. I am asking about the EPA's monitoring. Say I have a sewage treatment plant. It is like having a 100 horsepower tractor and a 200 horsepower tractor, to put it simply. Our witnesses will know what I am on about. For processing, one plant could be twice the size of another. Does the EPA know the amount of sewage that comes into the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2024)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I think there was one derogation farmer in Leitrim and he is gone. Based on reports, levels of phosphorous in Leitrim was high. Leitrim is covered in forestry. Was this the cause of it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2024)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I am asking about the volume in cubic metres of raw sewage that is coming in to be sorted. In some cases, in fairness, the sewage is taken away by lorries and brought to a bigger plant. Does the EPA have that information? It would be worthwhile for the EPA to look through the records. It contradicts everything that I was brought up with that in wet weather, fewer loads are brought away...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2024)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I am thinking of the likes of the derogation. Let us think of a scenario whereby every farmer puts every drop of water they have into a tank and never puts out slurry. Near me, in Ballymoe, County Galway, is one of the cleanest rivers - you can look it up - the Island River. There are monitoring stations along it. Unfortunately, a treatment plant was supposed to be done for the past seven,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2024)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I think it is four.