The government cannot continue to take a head in the sand approach to high levels of nitrogen and phosphorous in our rivers, according to Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore.<\/p>\n
Deputy Whitmore, who is the party\u2019s environment spokesperson, was responding to the latest water quality monitoring report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).<\/p>\n
She said:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe EPA has warned that nitrate concentrations remain too high in many parts of the country, particularly in the south and south-east regions. According to the report, nutrient losses from agriculture are one of the significant drivers for waterways not meeting their environmental objectives under the Water Framework Directive.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have previously called for government responses to EPA water quality reports but there has been no sense of urgency in dealing with this crisis. The sad reality is that environmental issues are not taken seriously by this or previous governments.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere needs to be a major rethink on the nitrates derogation, with full support and advisory guidelines for farmers during the weaning off process to help them adapt to more sustainable practices. Increased funding for agri-environmental initiatives should also be allocated \u2013 as long as they are managed better than the existing ACRES scheme, which has seen unacceptable payment delays to participating farmers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe environmental destruction of Lady\u2019s Island Lake in Wexford is just one glaring example of the damage being caused by the derogation \u2013 but this is happening in our rivers and waterways all over the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is hardly surprising that Ireland is set to miss EU and national targets for restoring water bodies to good status by 2027.<\/p>\n
\u201cContinued government inaction is undermining Ireland\u2019s environmental commitments \u2013 and our rivers and seas are paying the price.\u201d<\/p>\n
July 3, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The government cannot continue to take a head in the sand approach to high levels of nitrogen and phosphorous in our rivers, according to Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore. Deputy Whitmore, who is the party\u2019s environment spokesperson, was responding to the latest water quality monitoring report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). She said: \u201cThe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12688,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[517,727,268,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-biodiversity","category-environment","category-jennifer-whitmore","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n