To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs for an update on progress made on the Lough Neagh Report and Action Plan.

Mr Muir

Mr Speaker, with your permission, I will group questions 9 and 14 together. I will provide you first with an assessment of the current ecological status of Lough Neagh and then an update on the progress made on the Lough Neagh report and action plan. The 2024 water quality classification for rivers, lakes and marine waterbodies that was published by my Department in February 2025 showed that, in 2024, water quality in Lough Neagh was assessed as being of poor ecological status. It is clear that the Lough Neagh ecosystem has changed due to a range of pressures and threats, including a warming climate, eutrophication and invasive species. NIEA is developing a Lough Neagh conservation management plan to establish the necessary conservation measures to help the lough ecosystem achieve a new equilibrium and improved conservation status for its habitats and species. With respect to the Lough Neagh report and action plan that were agreed by the Executive in July last year, of the 37 actions contained in the plan, I am pleased to report that 14 have been delivered and 22 are progressing. I am committed to driving forward the implementation of the remaining actions.

Mr Kearney

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht an fhreagra chuimsithigh sin.

Minister, you will be aware that a moratorium has been placed on eel fishing in Lough Neagh since the second week of May. That is causing huge financial hardship, particularly to those in our commercial fishing sector. Indeed, Minister, you met a number of those fishermen with me in the past. In light of those circumstances, what will you do to support the livelihoods of those who are enduring such hardship as a direct result of the moratorium on fishing in the lough in the midst of this ever-deepening crisis?

Mr Muir

The Lough Neagh Fishermen's Co-operative's suspension of eel fishing remains in place until the week commencing 14 July, as the Member is aware. The society will provide test fish to the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in the coming weeks. Scale fishing continues in the lough, and DAERA continues to monitor the situation. I remain committed to providing whatever support is practical and affordable to eel fisheries, including support through existing grant schemes and any potential new grant schemes. Any case for direct financial support for the shortened fishing season will need to be robustly supported with scientific and financial evidence for the scheme and the impact of the scale of losses that are endured. I met the cooperative on a number of occasions, and it is looking to pull together the information that will help me to provide the support that we are going to have to provide to fishermen in the lough. Let me say that the story of eel fishing in Lough Neagh that has been emerging in the past number of weeks breaks my heart. If there ever were an example of a link between cause and effect, this is it. I am trying my best to turn the situation in Lough Neagh around. All that I ask from Members is a bit of flexibility and that they work with me on the matter. If we do not work together, those situations will get worse.

Mr Muir

As Minister, I am doing all that I can on that. I have been clear and have put on the record that the statement of regulatory principles and intent (SORPI) is not fit for purpose. A consultation is under way on that between DFI and NI Water that closes at the beginning of next month. I will then take recommendations to the Executive on how we can strengthen regulation and enforcement on sewage pollution in Northern Ireland. It is not acceptable that NI Water gets a separate regulatory regime to everyone else, and it is about time that we called time on that.

Mr O'Toole

Minister, there is a little bit of diplomacy in your answers. Is it not somewhat ironic that a Sinn Féin Member asks about the Lough Neagh action plan when their party voted against one of the critical parts of the plan? Further to that, it appears that the two big parties in the Executive are going to block progress on the nutrients action plan and that there is no plan to fund Northern Ireland Water. Will you confirm whether all Executive commitments on Lough Neagh will lie in utter ruins if those two things cannot be progressed?

Mr Muir

I have outlined what I intend to do on sewage pollution to strengthen the regulation and enforcement. I will bring that to the Executive and look for support for it, because I believe in fairness, and, if people believe that it is wrong that there is a separate regime for sewage pollution, they need to back my plans in order to bring an end to the statement of regulatory principles and intent, which is the bye ball that NI Water gets. I was deeply disappointed at the stance that some parties took in the recent debate on the nutrients action programme. However, I owe it to the people of Northern Ireland not to play politics with that but to try to find a way forward on the nutrients action programme. That is why I have clearly set out a pathway for it. When the consultation closes in the next few weeks, the Department will set up a time-bound stakeholder task and finish group, with an external facilitator and representatives from farming, agri-food, environmental groups and the Department. Working collaboratively and taking into account the consultation responses, plus any other potential solutions, the group will be asked to propose measures and actions that are evidence-based and workable at farm level with realistic time frames while allowing us to meet our legislative requirements. Following the work of that group, in the spirit of openness and transparency, I also intend to undertake a further eight-week public consultation on those updated proposals and then bring final recommendations to the Executive. This is a genuine effort on my part to try to find a way forward on the nutrients action programme. I have listened to concerns, but I am also conscious of the fact that we have a crisis in Lough Neagh. I really hope that people get on board with the process that I have set out so that we can turn the tide on water quality in Lough Neagh. If we cannot do that, the Programme for Government that we published is not worth the paper that it is written on.