Key environmental legislation stuck in Executive - as watchdog describes 'worrying picture' for NI waterways
Stormont minister Andrew Muir says the Executive is still to adopt an environmental improvement plan he brought forward in March, amid growing concern about the state of Northern Ireland’s rivers and lakes.
A scathing report by the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) said laws to protect water quality are not being implemented as they should be – and the minister has admitted that his department has potentially broken the law amid delays in improving standards.
The OEP says Northern Ireland’s failure to implement a plan “paints a very worrying picture” – and found potential breaches in the law.
Andrew Muir says he accepts the findings of the report.
The minister said “there is potential we could have” broken the law, but said he is working to “rectify” that.
The issue has risen to prominence after outbreaks of toxic blue-green algae in Lough Neagh and other lakes and rivers across Northern Ireland – a problem driven by poor water quality.
The minister said in an interview with the BBC that he brought an Environmental Improvement Plan to the Executive in March – eight months after its original deadline. There was no Executive in place until February. Minister Muir said “I continue to engage with executive colleagues to get that adopted”.
That issue is under a separate investigation by the OEP.
The Alliance minister told the BBC that the issue of environmental protection “has not been a previous ministerial priority” – adding that “funding has been starved [from] that area”.
“The challenges in this department are immense. The environment is in a dire state, and I’m working to try to turn that around”, he said. Stormont has missed a target to bring 70% of water bodies here to a “good” status by 2021 – and deferred it to 2027.
The OEP carried out a review of the key legislation regarding water quality in Northern Ireland – and how they are being implemented by the DAERA and the NI Environment Agency. OEP chief executive Natalie Prosser said: “Our report finds that although the approach of the… regulations is broadly sound, it is not being implemented or delivering as it should for NI’s lakes, rivers and coastal waters”.