Millions of pounds will be required to address farm pollution problems in the Lough Derg and Lough Ree catchment areas of the River Shannon in order to achieve improvements in water quality, according to a report published yesterday.
The report from the Lough Derg and Lough Ree Catchment Monitoring and Management System, jointly administered by Clare and Roscommon County Councils, revealed that 40 per cent of Lough Ree was polluted, mainly by farmers.
Industry has also been cited as having an adverse impact on water quality and the report recommends that a review of the licence conditions for each group be given a high priority by the appropriate regulatory authorities.
Local authorities have also been urged to make improvements in sewerage infrastructure and to draw up new by-laws in parts of counties Clare, Galway, Leitrim, Longford, Cavan, Tipperary, Offaly and Roscommon to protect the river.
The report says that an investment of at least £30 million will be required to upgrade slurry and manure storage and handling facilities on farms. "Successful action will depend upon co-operation between local authorities, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of the Environment and Local Government, the Department of Agriculture and Food, Regional Fisheries Boards, Teagasc, industrialists, farmers, the relevant State agencies and various interest groups," the report adds.
The Shannon Regional Fisheries Board, which is having difficulty in maintaining fish stocks with the present crisis in water quality within the Shannon region, met to consider the report and afterwards said it fully supported its recommendations. However, the board felt that from a fisheries point of view it did not go far enough.
Reacting to the findings, Senator Mairin Quill of the Progressive Democrats said it was a national scandal that 40 per cent of Lough Ree was polluted and claimed that Ireland was set to lose out on millions of pounds in tourism revenue if water quality was not improved. A two-pronged approach was necessary to sort out the problem. First, she said, the polluters must be severely fined for the damage they have caused, and then the Government needed to implement a major investment package to return inland waterways to their original pristine condition.
Mr Tom Parlon, president of the IFA, welcomed the central conclusion of the report on the level of financial investment required on farmyards.