Public Consultation on the draft River Basin Management Plan for Ireland 2022-2027

The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien, TD, has published the draft River Basin Management Plan for Ireland 2022-2027 for public consultation. The Minister now invites submissions, observations and comments on the proposed plan.

A key commitment in the Programme for Government, launching a new strengthened River Basin Management Plan will help Ireland protect, improve and sustainably manage our water environment to 2027. Achieving good water quality in our rivers, lakes, estuaries and seas is essential for protecting Ireland’s drinking water sources, environment and people’s quality of life. The plan is produced in implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD).

Ireland is currently in the latter stages of preparing the next River Basin Management Plan (RBMP) for Ireland. The Plan is required under the Water Framework Directive for the period 2022-2027.

These plans, amongst other requirements, set out the environmental improvements to be delivered during a river basin planning cycle. The plans contain water quality objectives and a programme of measures to achieve those objectives.

Building on earlier consultation phases, the purpose of this consultation is to gather your views on what should be in the final plan. We need all sectors to respond, to ensure the third-cycle plan is as good as possible.

By responding, you will be helping to shape the overall management of Ireland’s water environment. The information gathered will help us prepare for the next cycle of River Basin Management Plans. The finalised plan is due to be published in 2022.

Further to the consultation on the draft River Basin Management Plan, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have recently launched a consultation on the designation of heavily modified waterbodies. The purpose of this consultation is to seek the public’s views on the review process and the proposed water bodies for designation. The EPA’s consultation will close on 30 April 2022. Following a review of the responses, the EPA will make a recommendation to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage on the waterbodies that meet the designation criteria. The Minister will consider the recommendation and make a decision on the designations, which will then be published as part of the final river basin management plan.

The consultation period is closed.

Receipt of submissions will be acknowledged but it will not be possible to issue individual responses.

All submissions and comments submitted to the Department for this purpose are subject to release under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2014 and the European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment) Regulations 2007-2014. Submissions are also subject to Data Protection legislation.

Personal, confidential or commercially sensitive information should not be included in your submission and it will be presumed that all information contained in your submission is releasable under the Freedom of Information Act 2014.

The information provided by respondents will be used in order to shape the next River Basin Management Plan for Ireland covering the period 2022-2027.

Please note that submissions received may be made available on the Department’s website, unless otherwise requested. In any event, all submissions received will be subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act and Data Protection legislation. See also the Privacy Statement under the Documents above.

Third Cycle Draft River Basin Management Plan 2022-2027 - Consultation Report