1910. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for a detailed update on the local catchment assessments of the 517 priority action areas outlined in the Water Action Plan 2024; the number that have been carried out; when they were assessed; the results and arising actions; the number that were referred to the agricultural sustainability support and advisory programme; the future timelines for further assessments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62516/26]

Priority Areas for Action

Under the 3rd Cycle River Basin Management Plan, the Water Action Plan 2024, there are 517 Areas for Action. These include:

• Priority Areas for Action (including Blue Dot Areas for Action).

• Local Authority led Areas for Action.

• Public Health Areas for Action.

There are 343 Priority Areas for Action (amounting to 1,891 waterbodies) and the River Basin Management Service is the lead organisation for these under the Water Action Plan 2024. The River Basin Management Service, which is funded by my Department, co-ordinates efforts among Local Authorities to achieve good or high water quality in our waterbodies.

Priority Areas for Action were selected primarily because the waterbodies in these areas were ‘at risk’ of not meeting their water quality objectives under the EU Water Framework Directive. This targeted approach aims to protect and restore water quality in these waterbodies and help to ensure Ireland’s compliance with the Water Framework Directive. The work of River Basin Management Service Catchment Scientists through the ‘Local Catchment Assessment’ process involves the identification of highly complex issues which can affect water quality across a range of areas. These issues are referred to implementing bodies for targeted measures. The EPA Water Quality in Ireland report 2019-2024 (published October 2025) highlighted improvements in phosphorus levels where the right measures are implemented in the right place within Priority Areas for Action.

The Local Catchment Assessment process generally follows these steps:

• Improve scientific understanding / desktop study.

• Community engagement.

• Stream assessments and fieldwork.

• Measures proposal and implementation.

• Recording, tracking and monitoring.

Progress in Priority Areas for Action

The work plan for catchment assessment in each of these 343 Priority Areas for Action has been progressing since publication of the Water Action Plan in September 2024. The length of time to complete a catchment assessment is dependent on factors such as the size of the area or the number of waterbodies, the complexity of pressures impacting on waterbodies, and the weather in terms of targeting assessments at varied flow conditions or water levels. It is also heavily influenced by the availability of historical data, resource allocation, and the time required to coordinate with local communities. A full assessment including referrals and reporting in an individual Area for Action generally takes one to two years to complete.

Progress in Priority Areas for Action is measured by the River Basin Management Service against the completion of key catchment assessment tasks for each Area for Action, namely desk study, fieldwork, referrals and reporting. The table below gives a summary of progress for the 343 Priority Areas for Action up to the end of July 2026. In summary:

• Progress has been recorded for 196 (57%) of the Priority Areas for Action indicating completion of one or more of the key catchment assessment tasks.

• For 24 of the Priority Areas for Action (7%) there is 100% completion of catchment assessment tasks.

• The River Basin Management Service is actively working in 87 of these 343 Priority Areas for Action in 2026 and increased progress will be reported for these areas as key tasks are completed.

• There are currently 147 Priority Areas for Action without progress recorded. The River Basin Management Service is working in 32 of these 147 areas, and it is expected that progress will be made with completion of some key tasks for the majority of these 32 by the end of 2026.

Table: Summary of progress for the 343 Priority Areas for Action up to the end of July 2026.

To support the roll out of a new Catchment Action Tracker the River Basin Management Service has collated waterbody level summary information on progress to date for all 1,891 waterbodies in Priority Areas for Action and this information will be published by the Environmental Protection Agency in due course.

The work in the priority areas for action by catchment scientists is specialised work and there is a requirement for significant training and mentoring of scientific staff, along with difficulties in the resourcing of the River Basin Management Service catchment assessment programme. Other challenges included the reprioritisation of resources by the River Basin Management Service Oversight Committee to other work areas due to the knowledge, scientific and technical skillsets of the catchments team including:

• Supporting local authorities in their catchment assessments and the building of their capacity in this area.

• Supporting the Farming for Water EIP project in timely assessment of applications for measures to address water quality issues.

• Supporting the investigation of fish kills across the country.

• Supporting programmes to address specific water related issues such as Lady’s Island.

• Bespoke catchment science and management training delivered upon request by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to ACRES Co-operation Project, ASSAP advisors and others.

The River Basin Management Service will continue working to complete the Priority Areas for Action identified under the 3rd Cycle into the 4th Cycle (2028 – 2033 period) following which additional areas in line with the priorities and objectives of the 4th Cycle Water Action Plan will be identified. This will be a continuous process and enduring responsibility to protect and restore our waterbodies.

Referrals under ASSAP and other programmes

The issuing of referrals to implementing bodies for measures to address water quality problems is a key part of the priority area for action process and involves handing over catchment science work completed in the river catchment to implementing bodies to put in place the measures required to protect and restore the waterbodies. Progress with these referrals is reported via the EDEN WFD App by the implementing bodies and tracked by the Programme Delivery Office within my Department.

• There has been a total of 780 agriculture referrals to the Agricultural Sustainability Support and Advisory Programme (ASSAP) since 2019.

• Of the 780 agriculture referrals to the ASSAP program, 689 were in the period 2019 to 2024 and 91 were from January 2025 to present.

• There has been a total of 109 referrals to implementing bodies other than ASSAP since 2019.

• Of these 109 referrals to implementing bodies other than ASSAP, 81 were in the period 2019 to 2024 and 28 were from January 2025 to present.

Significant progress has been achieved in the relatively short timeframe of the Water Action Plan 2024 (September 2024-2027), however addressing the full target of 343 Priority Areas for Action will be required to be extended beyond the timeframe of the current plan.